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Every Day 



BOOKS BY DR. WORK 



THE ART OF SAILING ON 

Will make faint hearts grow stouter. 

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EVERY DAY 
The very best in lucid thought and adaptation 
of the Scriptures to the practical requirements 
of those who make daily use of the Word. 
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OBSCURE PEOPLE 
Five Bible characters heretofore unknown here 
revealed and endowed with personality and 
strength. 
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THE HOUSE OF CHIMHAM 

It makes the birth of Christ very realistic. 
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STUDY TO BE QUIET 

It points the way to a quiet, unprejudiced out- 
look on a troublous time. 
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THEKLA 

A bit of early Christian legend beautifully told. 
i2mo. Stiff boards net 25 cents 



Every Day 



By 

EDGAR WHITAKER WORK 

Author of "Obscure People," "Study to be 
Quiet," "The Art of Sailing On," etc. 



lEtirrB Hag mill I btesa It}** 

Psalm lh5:2 




AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 

Park Avenue and 40th Street 
New York 



BV4S3sL 



Copyright, 1915, by 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 



i'r 

DEC 2 1915 

©CI.A414863 



To My Dear Friends 

Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Greene 

in Memory of Happy 

Adirondack Days 



JANUARY ONE 1 

OBtierp Dap 

"Every day will I bless thee." Psalms 145:2. 

EVERY day is God's gift. "Day unto day 
uttereth speech." They all tell of the good- 
ness of God. The years also are " the years 
of the right hand of the Most High." One day at 
a time God bestowed the past year upon us. One 
day at a time he will lead us forth into the coming 
year. Therefore — " every day will I bless thee." 

Every day God's mercies come to us. His bless- 
ings are daily blessings. They never fail, they are 
not intermittent. Every day the rising sun brings 
the return of divine grace, and every day the setting 
sun witnesses his abiding mercy. Has it not been so 
in all the past year? Have we lacked our daily 
bread? Have we suffered any lapse of God's love? 
Who can doubt that it will be so in all the coming 
year. Therefore — " every day will I bless thee." 

Every day brings some unique mercy from God. 
His mercies are new and fresh every day. God pre- 
pares a gift for every day, so that every day wears 
its own crown. The days are not the same — they 
are not alike. Every day is original, bearing God's 
image and superscription. Every day has its 
message and its invitation. Every day has its op- 
portunity too and its open pathway leading to God 
and eternity. Therefore — " every day will I bless 
thee." 



2 JANUARY TWO 

a personal praget 

"Lord, teach us to pray." Luke 11:1. 

Teach me, O God, the ancient truth of the 
divine goodness, the wondrous joys of repent- 
ance, the rich rewards of obedience, the deep 
satisfactions of the companionship of Jesus, 
and all the marvelous inspirations of thy glo- 
rious Word! 

Teach me the courage of unrequited toil, 
the nobility of speech and the splendor of 
silence, the gladness of a humble task done in 
love, and all the masterful uplift of that fine 
music of the heart that sings amidst the dust 
of things! 

Teach me " the patience of unanswered 
prayer' 3 the plentiful strength of discipline, 
the sacred stillness of life's problems, the soft- 
ened meanings of life's shadows, and all the 
high reach of life's far-flaming hopes! 

Teach me the value of love and the warm 
joys of a dedicated hearthstone, the revelation 
of life in the heart of a child, the message of 
truth in the heart of a friend, and all the end- 
less inspiration to service in the heart of the 
world! 

Amen. 



JANUARY THREE 3 

Cfte Cftttll of Kecotoerg 

" My steps had well nigh slipped/* Psalms 73:2. 

BUT not altogether, for " Thou hast holden my 
right hand." " I have made the Lord God my 
refuge." " And my feet have not slipped." 
How the heart thrills with the j oy of recovery ! It is 
God that hath helped me. Was it a long sickness, 
when strength departed from me, and the tapers of 
mortal hope burned low? I can feel the thrill of his 
touch upon me as he came and drew me back to life 
again. " I shall not die, but live, and declare the 
works of the Lord." 

Or was it a great temptation, when the net of sin 
was spread for my steps, and I was almost gone in 
the way of those that despise his law? How marvel- 
ously he came to my rescue, and brought me up out 
of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and es- 
tablished my goings. A new song came to my lips 
then, the song of recovery, " even praise unto our 
God." Or was it some overwhelming sorrow, when 
the soul seemed to lose its anchorage and go drift- 
ing out into the sea of doubt and despair? Then 
I heard my Lord saying unto me, " Come unto me, 
and I will give you rest," and I hied me to his loving 
arms. Oh, the joy of the heart when the soul turns 
again home from doubt and despair! 



4 JANUARY FOUR 

Cfte Importance of jQames 

" Salute the friends by name." HI John 14. 

WE are all envious of those who have the gift 
of remembering names. It is truly a fine 
accomplishment, and besides, it is a means 
of doing good to one's fellowmen. Who is there 
that does not like to have his name spoken clearly 
and correctly? It is an open sesame to the heart. 
We have heard of a college president who held the 
hearts of the students in his hands. His art was 
just this simple one of remembering names. It was 
a rare privilege indeed to meet the president on the 
street and have him greet you by name, as if he was 
speaking to his own familiar friend. Many a home- 
sick freshman received needed help in this way. 

The mind has wonderful capacity for names. Any 
of us could fill many pages with the names of those 
whom we have known first and last in life. Add to 
these also the names that we have met in books, maga- 
zines and papers. How great is the multitude ! But 
after all it is not merely names that should interest 
us so much, but people, souls behind names. Even 
the great names of fiction comfort and inspire us. 
John Halifax, Gentleman ! Adam Bede ! Henry 
Esmond ! Robinson Crusoe ! It is a misfortune if 
one must say, " I remember faces, but forget names." 
There is something worse than this, however, to re- 
member names, but forget souls ! 



JANUARY FIVE 5 

" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do." 

Ecclesiastes 9:10. 

WHATSOEVER! It is a broad word and 
withal very comprehensive and deep. It is 
a disconcerting word and full of surprise. 
It comes down upon us like an avalanche. There is 
no chance to hedge or compromise or make terms with 
such a word. Nevertheless, with all its magnitude 
and its difficulty and its sweep, I submit that we are 
bound to like this strong word, if we are determined 
to make something more than a hodge-podge of life 
in this busy and hard-hitting world. Earnestness 
is a key that unlocks many doors, and thorough- 
going is a flag before which most difficulties vanish. 
There is a certain masterful something that is much 
prized everywhere, and though it be called by differ- 
ent names, it is always comprehended in this one 
word — Whatsoever. It is the spirit that is ready 
to take hold, to begin wherever there is a chance to 
begin, and if there be no opportunity, to make one. 
These are words to encourage men of one talent. 
The truth is that the bulk of the world's work must 
be done not by five-talent men, or two-talent men, but 
by one-talent men — men who will spend no time sor- 
rowing over their one lone talent, but who will go to 
work to make the most of what they have. They 
are " whatsoever " men. They are here to do what- 
soever their hands find to do. They are here to take 
hold and make the most of the thing in hand. 



6 JANUARY SIX 

S©tg!)t anO ©entlenestf 

" Do it with thy might." Ecclesiastes 9:10. 

IF your hand has found a bit of work to do, do it 
with your might. Put your heart into it. 
" The source of power is still in the round 
tower of the heart." Do not play at your work — 
do not fumble or grow half-hearted. It is half- 
hearted that lames the foot for running. It is lacka- 
daisical that withers the rose on a maiden's cheek. 
It is lack-luster that kills the spirit even of a giant. 
" Do it with thy might ! " But do not be mis- 
taken about this. Doing the Lord's work with one's 
might is not to work in loud or clumsy fashion, or 
without gentleness of feeling and delicacy of finish. 
Do not forget the Lord's sentence about the lilies. 
" They toil not, neither do they spin." Working 
with one's might is not working with strain and 
labor. There is a certain gentleness and delicacy 
about all true and great work that is the real secret 
of might. A child may be a stronger worker than a 
giant. A man who can " carve a cherry-stone " in 
marble, and do it with his might, is a sculptor. A 
man who can write a couplet of verse with such in- 
finite care as other men use in building cathedrals, is 
a poet. We can work with our might and keep all 
the while a gentle heart and a delicate hand. 



JANUARY SEVEN 7 

CalleD to 2Dur Mlorfe 

" Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle." 

Romans 1:1. 

ARE we not all called to our work in life? The 
very word we use for the various occupations 
of men, callings, is proof of the deep-down 
feeling of the heart about life's business. By way of 
distinction we speak of sacred and secular callings. 
Why may not the latter be as real as the former? 
Paul was called to be an apostle. You perchance are 
called to be a farmer, a merchant, a writer. Is it 
not a calling, just the same, and should you not feel 
that you are doing your appointed work? It com- 
forts any man, and inspires him also, to feel that he 
has been truly called to his work in life. God needs 
many workmen to do many sorts of work. That my 
work or yours is common does not make us less work- 
men of God. It helps one tremendously to feel that 
he is doing a part of the real work of God's world. 
When you put your hand to your work to-day or to- 
morrow reflect that God has called you to your work. 
There is a sacred uplift in this thought that makes 
the burden light. Wherever there is a man who is 
plodding along in his work with eyes to the ground, 
and a dull sense of burden and hardness at his heart, 
be sure that he is not thinking as he ought about 
God's call to the common work of life. 



8 JANUARY EIGHT 

"And Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this 
great sight, why the bush is not burnt." 

Exodus 3:3. 

AND when the Lord saw that Moses turned 
aside to see, he called unto him out of the 
midst of the bush. It is when men lose the 
sense of wonder out of their souls that they miss 
the glorious things which God has prepared along 
life's pathways. " Every bush is aflame with God," 
but only those who turn aside to see shall find how 
true this is. An American traveler is reported to 
have announced his preference for Florence, Italy, 
that place of a thousand wonders, in enthusiastic 
language. " Yes," he said, " that's where we got the 
best butter on the whole trip." Butter, not beauty ! 
Two men stood together in the glow of the sinking 
sun. One was overwhelmed with the glory of it. 
The other remarked casually, " I think it will rain to- 
morrow." Lost wonder ! Happy is he who has not 
lost interest in the wonders of God's universe. 

" My heart leaps up when I behold 

A rainbow in the sky: 
So was it when I was a boy, 
So be it when I am a man, 

Or let me die." 

The most serious of all troubles of the soul is to 
lose the sense of wonder toward moral and spiritual 
grandeur. God pity the heart that does not leap up 
in the presence of the Cross of Christ ! 



JANUARY NINE 9 

Uncomciom MUumtt 

" Insomuch that they even carried out the sick into the 
streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that 
as Peter came by, at the least his shadow might 
overshadow some one of them." Acts 5:15. 

HERE verily is a true tribute to the uncon- 
scious influence of character. The shadow 
of a man, the silent eloquence of a good life 
— to this we all wish to pay tribute. A man of 
wealthy character does not know how his wealth 
spreads into other lives. " Moses wist not that the 
skin of his face shone." Let us not forget that the 
work of life is done in two spheres, the sphere of con- 
scious activity, and the sphere of unconscious in- 
fluence. We all accept the shadow theory of life. 
Why did men say that to sit for ten minutes in the 
presence of Louis Agassiz was to obtain an irresistible 
argument for immortality ? Why did they say of 
Dean Stanley that to be in his company was like 
going out under a clear sky? Why was it said of 
Emerson by an ignorant washerwoman, that although 
she did not understand his lectures, it did her good 
to look at him and hear him speak ? In each case the 
answer is plain : the shadow of the man overshadowed 
them, the benediction of character enriched them. 
One thoroughly good life in a group, what a treasure 
it is ! The shadow of such a life will fall upon others 
and do them good. A good man recks not of his influ- 
ence. He is silent, yet his life speaks. He sleeps 
and still his power is felt. He walks and his shadow 
touches other men to heal them. 



10 JANUARY TEN 

Cfte Carlp Daps of tfte Staff 

" With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I 
am become two companies." 

Genesis 32:10. 

IT is a solemn moment in the life of the man 
Jacob. The past is coming to meet him in the 
person of his brother Esau. Now as never be- 
fore Jacob realizes how wonderful his life has been. 
He had gone out alone with the meager companion- 
ship of his staff. He was returning after the in- 
crease of the years with two companies. All about 
him were oxen and asses and flocks and menservants 
and maidservants. Truly God had wrought with a 
wonder-working hand in his life. 

But is this in any manner more wonderful than 
God's dealings with many of us? How small were 
our beginnings. " With my staff I passed over." 
How great has been the increase of the years. 
" Two companies " now ! The life of the ordinary 
person is full of romance. What interesting changes 
have taken place. The ten-by-twenty store has be- 
come a great emporium of trade. The three-acre lot 
has grown to be a wide-stretching farm. The one- 
story cottage has given place to a brownstone front. 
Any one of our lives would make a book. Too often 
men lose their sense of wonder about life. They 
forget the early days of the staff. They think that 
their own " diplomacy of life " has brought every- 
thing to pass. They fail to realize that God has 
blessed them and given them the increase. 



JANUARY ELEVEN 11 

JLe00 of tfce Cime0, S@ore of tfte 
(Eternities 

"Till I come, give heed to reading." I Timothy 4:13- 

PAUL'S advice to Timothy is good for us all. 
Are you making good use of your Bible, are 
you giving heed to reading? It is a busy age 
and leisure time is often hard to find. There is much 
more neglect of the Bible than ever before. There is 
great reason then for Paul's word of advice, " Give 
heed to reading." 

Why should we read the Bible? Here is one rea- 
son of many — it is a strong book to live and work 
by. " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by 
every word." " The words that I have spoken unto 
you are spirit and are life." Truly it is the Book 
of life. It contains such help as a man needs for a 
strong intellectual and spiritual life. " Ye do err, 
not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." 
The Bible makes a man think and feel. It makes him 
thrill with the power of God. The Bible is protec- 
tive also against the invasions of the world upon the 
soul. " Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that 
I might not sin against thee." It is guidance, for the 
Psalmist says that it is a lamp unto the feet and a 
light unto the path. It is peace. " Great peace 
have they that love thy law." The Bible links our 
life to Eternity. Paul is saying in effect, Give less 
heed to the Times and more heed to the Eternities! 



12 JANUARY TWELVE 

JLotie 3te Omnipotent 

" God is Love; and he that abideth in love abideth in 
God, and God abideth in him/' 

I John 4:16. 

LOVE is omnipotent. There are many things 
that are potent, but love is owm-potent. 
God is love ! Other revelations have been 
given, such as God is Light, and God is Power; but 
this is higher than all others, means more to the heart, 
answers a deeper call of the soul, speaks to a greater 
depth, and rises to a greater height than any other. 
Up and down the world thou hast wandered, O friend, 
and thou art not satisfied. Thou hast stopped at 
many schools, many literatures, many sciences, many 
philosophies. Still there is a craving in thy soul that 
is not satisfied. Come now and stand before this 
little sentence. Come study this world-embracing 
philosophy. Come read these three words of light 
and power — God is Love. Here may thy wander- 
ings cease. For the sore heart of man this is enough. 
This is the old Gospel — old, yet ever new. " Herein 
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, 
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 
Love is omnipotent. " And I, if I be lifted up from 
the earth, will draw all men unto myself." Mr. 
Spurgeon was once reading a hymn in the pulpit, one 
line of which spoke of the open arms of Christ. 
" Yes," he said, " they are nailed wide open on the 
cross." Greater love hath no man than this ! Such 
love is omnipotent. 



JANUARY THIRTEEN 13 

IBuilDing for ©oD 

" See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the 
son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled 
him with the Spirit of God." Exodus 31:2, 3. 

BEZALEL was skillful enough " in all manner 
of workmanship " to build the larger parts 
of the Tabernacle, and he was glad also to 
put his hand to the fashioning of the smaller parts. 
" He made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and 
the shovels, and the basins, the flesh-hooks, and the 
firepans." Upon everything he left the touch of his 
own heart's devotion, for he was filled with the Spirit 
of God. It was God's plan, and Bezalel left the 
mark of his own soul upon things great and small. 
" Bezalel made this slender pin for the fastening of a 
curtain," they could say. " Bezalel made this bit 
of a loop or tassel." " Bezalel wrought this slight 
curve in the wings of the cherubim." We feel, do we 
not, that we would like to do all our work in that 
way, putting ourselves into the work, and leaving the 
mark of our affection upon it. It is this that trans- 
forms the whole art of building in this life and makes 
it sublime. It is this that strengthens the hand that 
holds the tool, and refines the tool as well. It is this 
that makes the mind keen for impression and apt for 
expression. It is this also that gives magnitude to 
little things. Love touches the plan, and new 
thoughts spring into being. We are not mere tools 
in God's hand, but workmen who use tools. 



14 JANUARY FOURTEEN 

Cfte Voices of Dumb Cfting0 

" For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam 
out of the timber shall answer it." Habakkuk 2:11. 

THINGS dull and inanimate even remonstrate 
against injustice and sin. It is as in the days 
of our Lord on earth — " if these shall hold 
their peace, the stones will cry out." If a man build 
his house by sinning against his soul, the very stones 
of the foundation shall cry out in protest, and the 
M beam out of the timber " shall give an answering 
remonstrance. Dumb things and places often wit- 
ness against us, like the stone which Joshua set up 
under the oak by the sanctuary at Shechem. " It 
hath heard all the words of Jehovah," he said, 
" which he spake unto us ; it shall be therefore a wit- 
ness against you, lest ye deny your God." Thus a 
familiar place may often protest against the man- 
ner of our life. The spot in the woods where you 
knelt in prayer and found your God — do not the 
very stones of that sacred place rebuke you when you 
turn away from him? The church where you made 
your early vows — do not the stones cry out of the 
wall and the beam answer out of the timber because 
of your present forgetfulness and neglect? A path- 
way through the meadow, a tree by the door, a sign 
at the cross-roads, the sound of a bell, may be 
enough to remind us of forgotten duty. 



JANUARY FIFTEEN 15 

3n OneipecteD places 

" Lay aside every weight." Hebrews 12:1. 

THERE are weights in unexpected places. 
For example, there are weights in pockets. 
There is many a man who cannot run the 
race, because his pockets weigh him down. Besides, 
he must needs keep his hands in his pockets, which is 
an ill thing for running. There are weights in 
thought and in imagination. When this is so, we 
neither fly nor go. We do not rise above the earth. 
We neither dream nor soar. We are worms of the 
dust, with folded wings within us that have never 
tried the upper air. Oh, for the power to lay aside 
the weights of thought and rise to higher themes ! 
There are weights in the customs and conventions 
of the world, in the " social lies that warp the truth." 
What will society say? What will society do? The 
world's bondage is upon us still, and we have no free 
spirit for the race. How hard it is to lay aside the 
weights of old traditions, old habits, old conven- 
tionalities. How the world stares and sticks its 
tongue into its cheek, when one breaks away from 
bondage and starts unencumbered down the course! 
There are weights in prejudice, and these are almost 
hardest of all to lay aside. One carries them without 
knowing it, even exulting in the encumbrance. It is 
upon others that these weights of prejudice press 
hard. 



16 JANUARY SIXTEEN 

&o Deeper! 

" Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ." n Peter 3:18. 

WE hear it often said that the soul needs 
breadth. No, it is not breadth that we 
need so much as depth. God is always call- 
ing us to deepen our lives by a fuller experience of 
his Grace. His Grace is high like the mountains, 
and deep like the ocean. He bids us grow in the 
heights and depths of his Grace. It is a pity that 
so many of us skim the surface only, when we might 
be revelling in the fullness of God's Grace. This is 
what a spiritual life is — it is a life that is deep 
through the experiences of divine Grace. We have 
seen lives that seemed to us to have imbibed of God's 
fullness. In their presence we were conscious of great 
depths within them. There were about them a still- 
ness, a repose, a wealth of the inner life that left 
upon us the impression of unfathomable resource. 
Some lives are easily exhausted, their shallows soon 
run away. Depth is not showy, but it lasts a long 
time. So many little things, trifling things, lose their 
importance when we revel in God's Grace and grow 
deep and strong in the knowledge of Christ. So 
many troublesome doubts disappear beneath the 
waves of the ocean of Grace. So many false tem- 
pers, and ugly wrinkles, and personal peccadillos 
are smoothed out by the wonder of God's Grace. Go 
deeper ! 



JANUARY SEVENTEEN 17 

Cfie $me anD tfie jfig Cree 

" But they shall sit every man under his vine and under 
his fig tree." Micah 4:4. 

IT is appointed unto men to be dwellers, not 
roamers. " A rolling stone gathers no moss." 
A fixed habitation should be each man's ambi- 
tion, with the protection and joy of private life. 
" Under his vine and under his fig tree ! " It is a 
picture of domestic felicity that neither artists nor 
poets can surpass. The vine is the symbol of Peace 
and the fig tree is the symbol of Plenty. Peace and 
Plenty — and are not these two important desires of 
life ? Peace with God and with man — if this be 
what it is to sit under the vine, then indeed it is a 
thing greatly to be desired. And Plenty — of this 
world's goods, if it please God. But more especially 
other kinds of Plenty. To sit beneath the fig tree 
and feel one's soul going out in good will to his fel- 
lowmen — oh, that is a kind of Plenty that the world 
stands in need* of. To be rich in brotherly-kindness 
and in tender compassion, so that no word of ill con- 
cerning man shall be spoken " under the fig tree " ; to 
be unselfish and deeply considerate, so that rich sup- 
plies shall flow out to society from " under his fig 
tree " — it is this kind of Plenty that all the world 
desires. 



18 JANUARY EIGHTEEN 

"We love, because he first loved us." I John 4:19. 

ARE we not right in saying that our Lord looks 
anxiously everywhere to-day for loyalty? 
Let us awaken anew to the obligations of dis- 
cipleship, and give ourselves again to a grand trans- 
figuring devotion to his cause. All they who follow 
their Lord afar off ; they who are " at ease in Zion " ; 
they who excuse themselves from the feast, having 
bought a piece of ground, or five yoke of oxen, or 
having married a wife ; they who slumber on Sabbath 
morning, or bury themselves twenty fathoms deep in 
the vast worldliness of the newspaper, with the sound 
of worship in the air; they who shrink at the call of 
duty, and cringe beneath the Lord's burdens ; they 
who count it a little thing to disattach themselves 
from membership in God's house — God help us all 
to see how unchivalrous are all such things, and how 
petty and paltry are the excuses and infidelities and 
disloyalties that mar the grand devotion and leal- 
hearted affection to which we are called in Christ our 
Lord. Christ has ennobled us and enriched us by his 
love. Now — Noblesse oblige! Nobility lays obli- 
gations upon us. " We love, because he first loved 
us." If we can do aught for his cause, let it be out 
of a full heart. Chivalrous love does not hesitate or 
haggle. It is not a bargaining love. It is the love 
of a grand devotion. 



JANUARY NINETEEN 19 

Learning $alue0 in tfie ^anctuarp 

" Blessed are they that dwell in thy house." 

Psalms 84:4. 

THE Bible furnishes a university training in 
spiritual values. If the student takes up his 
Rhetoric to determine the value of words and 
sentences, or his Chemistry to determine the value 
of atoms and molecules, or his Mathematics to de- 
termine the value of figures, let not the student of 
spiritual values fail to turn to his Bible. Artists 
often keep high colors before their eyes as they paint, 
in order to enchance their sense of color. So God 
has given us his Book to standardize our thoughts 
and tastes, to lift our life to higher levels. 

That exercise of a man's soul which we call Prayer 
— what a force it is in training men for right valua- 
tion of things. To pray is to give the soul a set 
toward the spiritual and the invisible. Men who 
never pray are " children of the mist." No light 
breaks out of the East. There is no bell sounding 
deep in the soul. There is no summons from across 
the deep sea. Each time we cross the threshold of 
God's house there is an opportunity to establish the 
heart in the grand things of God's kingdom. This is 
the divine economy of the sanctuary: it is the place 
to learn spiritual values. A life-long habit of wor- 
ship — how sweet a thing it is to a weary traveler 
on the world's dusty ways. 



20 JANUARY TWENTY 

" Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold 
me with a willing spirit." Psalms 51:12. 

HAVE we lost heart and grown spiritless? 
Have we suffered any sort of a stagnation in 
the soul, so that the angel no longer comes 
down to stir the waters of the pool? Have we un- 
dergone a " sort of loss of appetite in the mind," 
so that we have no hunger and thirst for spiritual 
food? David in another place cries out, "My soul 
is athirst for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a 
dry and weary land where no water is." It is a 
weary land indeed if the soul be not refreshed from 
on high. One of the main offices of the Holy Spirit 
is to restore worn spirits, to bring again the joy of 
salvation. God loves to hear this prayer on the 
earth, " Uphold me with a willing spirit." Then he 
knows that souls are realizing their need, and are 
coming to the fountain-head. Do we feel that noth- 
ing is worth while, not even goodness, nor patience, 
nor courage, nor hope, nor faith, nor gentleness, nor 
any of the fine things of the Kingdom? The soul 
is jaded and worn; it needs a renewing, a restoration 
from on high. The Spirit is ever near to meet such 
needs. The miasms and contagions of earth are too 
much for us. We need the Spirit of God to work 
a continuous restoration in us, to keep the joy of sal- 
vation unworn and untarnished. 



JANUARY TWENTY-ONE 21 

ConfiDenttal jFrienD0 

" No longer do I call you servants — but I have called 
you friends." John 15:15. 

FRIENDS! With this good word the Master 
reminded his disciples of the intimate relations 
of honor and privilege into which he had 
called them. Our Lord does not keep us at arm's 
length as one might do with a servant. " The serv- 
ant knoweth not what his lord doeth." He invites us 
to share the intimacies of friendship, and one of the 
best of these intimacies is just the privilege of not 
being afraid. The friend is upon terms of friend- 
ship — that is his standing. He comes and goes in 
that way. He need not observe too many formali- 
ties. If he should fail to knock at the door, it would 
be easily forgiven. 

When Christ calls his disciples friends, he means 
that they shall not feel bound or hampered in his 
presence. To be a friend of Christ is to have free- 
dom and gladness with him — just as Peter was free 
when he started to walk to him on the water, and 
John when he leaned on his bosom at the supper, and 
Levi when he made a supper in his own house for him, 
and Mary when she anointed him. It is a wonderful, 
revealing companionship, and intimate in the deepest 
way. 

" So near, so very near to God, 
Nearer I cannot be, 
For in the person of his Son 
I am as near as he." 



22 JANUARY TWENTY-TWO 

Cfte ark fn tfje J^ouse 

" And the ark of Jehovah remained in the house of 
Obed=edom the Gittite three months; and Jehovah 
blessed Obed=edom and all his house." 

II Samuel 6:n. 

WHAT a wonderful three months in the house 
of Obed-edom, with the Ark of the Cove- 
nant always there, morning, noon, and 
night ! We are not told that worldly prosperity in- 
creased, but Jehovah blessed Obed-edom and all 
his house." ' Something new and wonderful was 
among them, an influence that made life more solemn, 
more important, more joyous. For one thing, their 
toil must have been sanctified. Think of standing by 
the Ark in the early morning and then going out into 
the field to plow with the oxen. Toil is such a com- 
mon thing — every one must work. But to sanctify 
our toil, to go from the presence of the Ark, and to 
work with its influence upon us — that is the uncom- 
mon thing. It is this indeed that makes " the won- 
der and bloom " of the world, and causes a thousand 
surprises to grow in the hard places where men do 
their work. To be working away with one's hands or 
one's brains, to be meeting the shocks of the world, 
to be doing this day after day, with a strange light 
in the face, and with a great, mysterious uplifting 
secret in the soul — this is what comes from having 
the Ark in the house. One can afford to be battered 
about in the world, and misunderstood and even 
maligned, if all the while the Ark of the Presence is in 
the house to heal and strengthen the soul. 



JANUARY TWENTY-THREE 23 

2Bell0 of Valuation 

" Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells 
of salvation." Isaiah 12:3. 

THE Gospel is everything to one who accepts it 
fully. Wells of Salvation — twelve wells and 
seventy palm trees, such as the children of 
Israel found at Elim. " Wisdom and righteousness, 
and sanctification and redemption." What can we 
not find for the soul's good in the Gospel? " Christ 
is all and in all." In him we are " enriched in all 
things." " All things are yours." " Like a tree 
planted by the streams of water." What have you 
to say of these wells of salvation? Have they ever 
run dry or shown any signs of failing? When heavy 
sorrows came, when circumstances became more and 
more narrowing, did the wells of salvation fail you? 
This Gospel of ours is food and drink for the soul. 
Go often to the wells. No fear of draining them out. 
They reach down to the Rock of Ages. You need 
comfort or direction or refreshing this week. Re- 
member the wells of salvation. You are weary this 
week, needing enlivenment. Go to the wells of sal- 
vation. You are thirsty to-day with a thirst that 
is deep in the soul. Hasten to the wells of salvation. 
And when you draw, do not forget how to draw — 
" with joy." Too often we are like indolent boys at 
the well, wanting the water, but not joyous in the 
drawing. " With joy — with joy — shall ye draw ! " 



24 JANUARY TWENTY-FOUR 

Large am&itiong 

" I must also see Rome." Acts 19:21. 

WE might have thought that a man of Paul's 
Jewish temper would have been satisfied 
with Jerusalem. No, he said, " After I 
have been there, I must also see Rome." He had de- 
termined, if God willed, to carry the Gospel to the 
political and moral center of the world. " As much 
as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you 
also that are in Rome." It was not a mere personal 
ambition that filled his mind. He was not thinking 
of the temples and altars of Rome, of the ancient 
Forum and the Golden Milestone. His ambition was 
for the Gospel. The Gospel of Christ was not a 
provincial gospel; it must be heard in the world's 
greatest center. 

What about our ambitions for the cause of Christ? 
Ought they not to be like Paul's ? " I must also see 
Rome." Let us not shrink the Gospel. Let us have 
great ambitions for Christ and his cause. The Span- 
ish writers say of Christopher Columbus, " He had 
a taste for great things." And should not every be- 
liever in Christ have a taste for great things? Let 
us undertake for Christ! America is not enough for 
him. " I must also see Rome." Carry the Gospel 
to India and China and Africa and to the " uttermost 
part." No narrow ambitions in the kingdom. Let 
me do more as the days go by, rather than less. 
Let me have large, not small, ambitions for the cause 
of my Lord. 



JANUARY TWENTY-FIVE 25 

atoakeneo S©en 

" Awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake right 
early." Psalms 108:2. 

WHEN the Psalmist cries, " Awake, psaltery 
and harp," he remembers immediately that 
he himself must first awake. Therefore he 
adds, " I myself will awake right early." Of what 
use to invoke psaltery and harp in the morning unless 
the musician himself hath preceded the dawn? Vain 
to call upon wood and fiber and iron to do their work, 
when human feeling is dull, human love asleep, human 
purpose unwaking. " A cithern," so runs the Tal- 
mud, " used to hang above David's bed ; and when the 
midnight came the north wind blew among the strings, 
so that they sounded of themselves ; and forthwith 
he arose and busied himself with the Tora until the 
pillar of the dawn ascended." The night wind could 
play among the strings, but the soul of the musician 
was needed to make the music real. 

It is the soul power of awakened men that this 
world needs. " So few of us are really wide awake," 
says the cynic. There is some truth in his saying. 
Many of us are trying to make music with instru- 
ments, when we ourselves are not yet awake. 
" Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, 
and Christ shall shine upon thee." Often it seems 
that men are expecting the world to grow better by 
musical instruments and machinery, by organs, by 
railroads, by steam whistles, by electricity. It will 
not be so. The formula for a better world is here: 
" I myself will awake." God needs awakened men. 



26 JANUARY TWENTY-SIX 

Cfte §>en0ttttoene00 of 3fe0us 

" Some one did touch me." Luke 8:46. 

THE New Testament word means more than 
touch, it means to feel about after. Do you 
see how the Master's sentence reads then? 
" Some one did feel about after me." Somebody here 
in this solitude is interested enough to be trying to 
find me. Somebody here has a special need and is 
reaching out in a blind way, if perchance he may seek 
me and find me. We cannot miss the force of the 
word when it comes to us in this way. No doubt 
with this woman it was just such a groping in the 
dark as the words suggest. It was a half blind and 
staggering thing that she did. One is reminded of 
that sad Old Testament scene where the dismantled 
giant Samson put out his hands in his blindness to 
feel after the pillars of the temple of Dagon. He 
was feeling after strength, after something to lean 
upon. And so also was this woman — she was feeling 
after strength. When we recall our own blind and 
groping way of coming to God, we are ready to give 
this poor piece of suffering humanity our fullest sym- 
pathy. But the wonder of it all is that Jesus was 
so sensitive to that faint touch of hers. It was the 
pressure of need that he felt, and the pressure of 
faith. He knew that some one who needed strength 
was feeling after him. Jesus feels the lightest pres- 
sure of need. 



JANUARY TWENTY-SEVEN Tt 

Personal Property 

" Ask him: he is of age: he shall speak for himself." 

John 9:21. 

EACH man must speak for himself on the sub- 
ject of religion. There is nothing so personal 
as a man's religious life. We can share the 
results of religion with others, but religion itself — 
that is deeply personal. It should mean a great deal 
to us all to know that down deep in our lives we can 
have each of us something that is our very own, 
something that is absolutely personal, something that 
fits into our needs, runs into the very mold of our 
lives, and draws forth the best that we can give. 
There is no proxy in religion. No man can delegate 
his religion to another, not even to his wife. There 
is no evasion of this intense individualism of religion. 
" Ask him ; he shall speak for himself." Religion is 
personal property in the most absolute sense. It 
moves with a man when he moves. It is the indwell- 
ing factor of his life which circumstances do not con- 
trol. It is the intimate subject of his own hopes and 
dreams, the material of that profound potency of hu- 
man nature which is called Faith. This is the real 
preciousness of our religion — it is so deeply per- 
sonal, so real in our experience. Men can rob us 
of things, but they cannot take away our inner life 
and experience. However poor we are, we may be 
rich in such personal property. 



28 JANUARY TWENTY-EIGHT 

Cfje 3fog of Companionship 

" I and some few men with me." Nehemiah 2:12. 

NEHEMIAH was a strong man. Nevertheless 
he felt the need of companionship. There- 
fore when he made his famous nighttime 
journey around the broken-down walls of Jerusalem, 
he went not alone, but took " some few men " with 
him. The weak need the help of the strong. That 
is not all — the strong need the help of the weak. 
Strong man that he was, the apostle Paul was very 
dependent upon others. He spoke gratefully of the 
" men that have been a comfort unto me." 

" There must be many a pair of friends," is a true 
saying. God has made rich provision in this world 
for companionship. He " setteth the solitary in fam- 
ilies." He has given to every man, even the lowliest, 
a friend. He has greatly blessed those instincts of 
our hearts that lead us to walk and work together. 
One of our essayists writes these joyful words: "I 
awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my 
friends." The comradeships of life — how much 
they do for us. " Iron sharpeneth iron ; so a man 
sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Many 
a man is inspired and strengthened to breast the 
world's storm by the quiet woman at his side. Many 
a man is made a better man daily in the fierce battle 
of life by the memory of a child's light touch upon 
his hand. Let us pray God to help us to grow into 
life's deep meanings through the rich companionships 
wherewith he hath blessed us. 



M 



JANUARY TWENTY-NINE 29 

Cf)g Comforts 

" In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy corn- 
forts delight my soul." 

Psalms 94:19. 

* * T\ /f Y mind to me a kingdom is." Sir Walter 
Soott thought that he could live con- 
tentedly even in a dungeon as long as his 
imagination was left to him. " Sell your clothes," 
writes an essayist, " and keep your thoughts." Store 
up riches in the mind by meditation, by reading, by 
conversation, by experience. The truly educated 
man is not necessarily the man who has studied many 
things, but the man who by study has enlarged and 
deepened his mental resources. 

Yet the multitude of thoughts in the mind is not 
enough for comfort. The fuller our mental resource 
the more empty we feel at times. Some commenta- 
tors tell us that the word thoughts means literally the 
small branches of trees. When the wind blows they 
are confused and tangled. The multitude of tangled 
thoughts — who does not know this state of mind ? 
The margin reads doubts. Let a sorrow come into 
your life, and where is your philosophic calm, your 
boasted mental resource? Let the pressure of sin be 
felt upon the soul, and where is your consolation to 
be found? Something else is needed besides mental 
resource. " Thy comforts delight my soul." The 
divine Presence, the health of his countenance, the 
assurance of unbounded love and comprehension, the 
grace of forgiveness and restoration, — the soul needs 
such comforts as these for the multitude of thoughts. 



30 JANUARY THIRTY 

Cfte Dap of Rest 

" The seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God." 

Exodus 20:10. 

NEVER has there been any other such be- 
neficent economy as the Lord's rest day. It 
has kept the world going. Work is one 
of God's greatest blessings, but God never meant that 
we should overwork. The busy industries of civiliza- 
tion only emphasize the value of the day of rest. 
An unresting civilization cannot long do its work well. 
This law of one in seven seems to be written with the 
finger of nature. Physiologists have proved that 
one in ten would be insufficient. It is poor wisdom to 
try to circumvent and cheat nature. Say what you 
will about the " old-fashioned Sabbath " — at least 
nervous prostration was a rare trouble then. Not to 
speak of the call to worship, those quiet old-fashioned 
Sabbaths afforded wonderful opportunities for filling 
the reservoir with strength. There is a tone of rest- 
ful strength about all our nation's early. history. Let 
us beware lest we lose our poise by neglecting the day 
of rest. God understands the strain, the wear and 
tear of life, and gives us this foil for our weakness. 
The Rest Day is the returning providence of every 
week. It meets our weariness with the precision of 
clockwork. It glides into our lives like a medicine, 
touching us with quiet, relieving the tension, remov- 
ing the strain and the pressure. All the king's horses 
and all the king's men cannot bring us our needed 
rest. Only the Sabbath of the Lord our God can do 
this. 



JANUARY THIRTY-ONE 31 

{Hitting, not IBazkiw 

" Abide in me, and I in you." John 15:4. 

THE saintly Bengel was accustomed to close each 
day with a prayer — " Lord Jesus, it is just 
the same as ever between thee and me." The 
confidence of this ejaculation of the soul is altogether 
beautiful and justifiable. Yet it is easy to see that 
one might rest too comfortably in the self-compla- 
cency of such a prayer. It might become a counsel 
of inaction ; it might hide from view a great amount 
of dawdling in the Kingdom of God. When Horace 
Bushnell was an old man he met a young man one 
Monday morning hurrying away to the ministers' 
meeting. Asking for the subject of the meeting, he 
was told that the subject was, "Abiding in Christ." 
" It is a good subject," said the old man, " but remem- 
ber that abiding in Christ is not basking in Christ." 
No, it is not basking, nor is it resting in the sense of 
inaction, nor is it in any way imposing upon Christ. 
There is a sense in which it should not always be the 
same with us in our relation to our Lord and Master. 
Abiding is growing. More surprise, more wonder, 
more glory to-day than yesterday. What can I do 
to-day for my Master that I have not done before? 
What door of opportunity can I enter? What new 
interpretation of his spirit can I give? What better 
illustration of his power can I furnish? 



32 FEBRUARY ONE 

Cfte i^oitge beautiful 

" And blue, and purple, and scarlet and fine linen." 

Exodus 25:4. 

WE are not surprised that the Tabernacle 
was strong. There were boards and bars 
and sockets and pillars, symbols of that 
strength which belongs to Jehovah and his worship- 
ers. But it was also a House Beautiful. What a 
thrill we feel with these words — " and blue, and pur- 
ple, and scarlet and fine linen." No parsimony here, 
no paucity, no stinting of material or workmanship, 
no slipping in of lower grades, no culls, no left- 
overs, no good-for-nothing-else goods. Nothing of 
this, but the best they had. Observe the candlesticks ! 
A straight upright of gold on a stand will make a 
candlestick. But these candlesticks must blossom 
out like trees, with their branches on either side. 
And the cups. A round cup will hold oil. But 
no, the cups must be " like unto almond blossoms " 
with knops and flowers. It was the eye of an artist 
— the Great Artist — that asked for all this. God 
was telling these worshipers of the olden time that 
they must not rob or stint their Heavenly Father. 
Look at the curtains ! You who are skilled in needle- 
work, study the broidery, and the loops of blue, and 
the clasps of gold. And see the pomegranates of blue 
and purple and twined linen on the hems of the 
priests' garments. A bell and a pomegranate! 
There it is again — the rubric of beauty ! God loves 
beauty! 



FEBRUARY TWO 33 

gou mill 15t 9@tsseD 

" Thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be empty." 

I Samuel 20:18. 

THE point that Jonathan made was that 
David was expected to be in his place. If 
his seat was empty he would be missed. If 
it is true that " every man's life is a plan of God," 
there are places we are expected to occupy and there 
is work we are expected to do. . God expects every 
man to be in his place. You will be missed if your 
seat is empty ! How many empty seats there are in 
this world — places prepared for men who never came 
to take them. It startles us to think of this. God 
has arranged some work for me to do, and I have 
never put my hand to the doing of it. Does the work 
still wait, or must another do it? At any rate I am 
missed because my seat is empty. Some place of duty 
has been summoning you for many days, and the seat 
is still empty. It had no attraction for you ; it 
seemed too hard for you. You are missed from the 
place of duty. There has been a seat in God's house 
awaiting you, and a place at the Lord's Table, my 
friend, lo 1 these many years, and you have never come 
to occupy it. It is yowr place; you are expected 
there. You will be missed if your seat is empty. Is 
it not a sorrowful thing to mar God's plan? 



34 FEBRUARY THREE 

Cfte personal Coucj) 

" The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand, which, 
is the token in every epistle." 

II Thessalonians 3:17. 

IT was hard work with his poor eyes. I can see 
the little old apostle ("Paul the aged") bend- 
ing low over the page to write his personal salu- 
tation and to affix his name at the end of the letter to 
the Thessalonians. He could dictate the body of his 
message, but he could not send the letter on its way 
without adding a personal touch with his own hand. 
It is " the token in every epistle," he said. If you 
find my poor scrawl at the end (" see with how large 
letters I write," he said to the Galatians), you may 
rest assured that the letter is genuine. Do we real- 
ize as we ought that the world needs the personal 
touch? " With mine own hand." Why do we value 
hand-made above machine-made products? Because 
the personal touch is upon them, the mark of personal 
care and skill. The best things of this world cannot 
be made by machinery. Friendship for example — 
there must ever be a personal touch in friendship to 
make it worth while. " You do not know your friend 
by his buttons." Charity also — it is the personal 
touch here that warms the heart more than the gift. 
Not yours, but you ! " The gift without the giver is 
bare." And religion — the world needs the personal 
touch in religion. Indeed this is the token in religion 
— does a man put his own hand to his creed? 



FEBRUARY FOUR 35 

Wibtu Do gou JLitief 5 

" Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight." 

Acts 9:11. 

IT does not matter much what street you live on, 
or which house you occupy, so that the street is 
called Straight. Indeed we can go further and 
say that it does not matter much where the body 
lives, so that the soul lives in the right place and in 
the right way. Where does your soul live? Does 
it live in the street called Straight, or does it live in 
crooked places ? It was a fine message which old Ben 
Jonson sent to a man who had spoken ill of his 
worldly conditions. " He despises me," said the phil- 
osopher, " because I live in an alley. Tell him that 
his soul lives in an alley." Who are they whose souls 
live in alleys ? The selfish man, because he shuts him- 
self up to the narrow circle of self. The unloving 
man, because he dwarfs himself by preventing the en- 
largement that comes to the soul by love. The un- 
helpful man, because he never lets himself out into 
the wide and joyous places of service. The unbe- 
lieving man, because he fails to enter by faith into the 
great life and peace of God. The unspiritual man, 
because he does not take advantage of the freedom 
wherewith Christ hath made him free. The insincere 
man, because he does not walk in the light of truth. 
Let us go into the street called Straight and live 
there. 



36 FEBRUARY FIVE 

Lessons of tfte Darkness 

" I will give thee the treasures of darkness." 

Isaiah 45^3. 

ARE there treasures of darkness? Yes, because 
" the darkness and the light are both alike " 
to him. 6i God called the light Day, and 
the darkness he called Night." Evening and morn- 
ing were required to make a day. He made them 
both, and he hath put treasures in darkness as well 
as in light. It is hard for us to believe that the 
shadows that fall upon life contain anything of value 
for us. It is nevertheless true. He who will search 
through even the greatest of his distresses and sor- 
rows will find that God has hidden away " treasures 
of darkness." Every good picture must be a min- 
gling of light and shadow. The Italians have a term 
that describes this — chiaroscuro — clear-obscure. 
Life must be like this, some light, some shadow. The 
sundial would be of no value without the light, 
neither would it be of any avail without the shadow. 
" The shadow shows that there is light above." One 
of the treasures of the shadowy places in life is just 
the possibility of finding ourselves and realizing the 
better part of life. The full glare of the light often 
deceives us: we do not know our own needs. But 
when the darkness comes we understand ourselves bet- 
ter. We realize our needs, we find out our own deep 
dependence. The darkness is a great teacher, if we 
are willing to be taught. Its lessons are profound 
and real. 



FEBRUARY SIX 37 

Cfte "Banquet Cafile 

" He brought me to the banqueting=house, and his ban- 
ner over me was love." 

Song of Solomon 2:4. 

f I "\HERE are times when God brings us to his 
banqueting-house, and sets the mark of his 
love above us in a special manner. There 
upon the full table of our Lord we see spread out be- 
fore us all the wealth of his possessions, love, par- 
don, grace, joy, peace — a finished redemption, a full 
salvation. In such an hour the voice of our Lord 
speaks to us, saying, " Come and break your fast." 
The lean days are past and gone and you are now at 
the Lord's rich table. What are your desires? 
Nay, what are your needs ? " My God shall supply 
every need of yours according to his riches in glory 
in Christ Jesus." Remember it is the Lord's ban- 
queting-house to-day, and his banner over you is love. 
Alas ! if you have no appetite at his full table ! A 
thousand pities if you turn away from his hospitality, 
your soul still lean and fasting, your heart unfilled 
and hungry. Why live at this " poor dying rate," 
when your Lord has come that you may have life? 
Why should the seasick suffer in sight of land, or the 
homesick languish within reach of home? And why 
should hungry hearts perish when the door to God's 
banqueting-house stands open? 



38 FEBRUARY SEVEN 

Cran0patent Character 

" And this I pray, . . . that ye may be sincere and 
void of offense." Philippians 1:9, 10. 

A MODERN translator makes this read, " so 
that ye may be men of transparent charac- 
ter." The word translated sincere means 
literally tried by sunlight. This is Paul's prayer, 
that their lives may be transparent, sincere, unsullied, 
pure, so that the light can shine through. Tried 
by sunlight — only a transparent character can en- 
dure such' a test. Did the Psalmist mean this when he 
said that God desires " truth in the inward parts " ? 
Yes, God desires to see his grace operating in souls 
in such a way as to make a clear pathway for the 
light. " In whose heart are the highways to Zion," 
says the Psalmist. How wonderful it is to have a 
heart so open to God that his light can travel through 
it without interruption. How many things there are 
that keep the light from shining through, things that 
destroy transparent character — hatred, envy, jeal- 
ousy, foes every one to transparency. " He that 
hateth his brother is in the darkness." But there 
are other things that are not so often suspected of 
interrupting the light. Prejudice, for example, and 
suspicion, and selfishness, and bitterness and pride. 
It is hard for the light to get through any of these. 



FEBRUARY EIGHT 39 

Crut& Granger timtt jFtctton 

" It was written in the book of the chronicles before 
the King." Esther 2:23. 

WHY is it that truth is stranger than fic- 
tion? Because God is behind the truth. 
" There's a divinity that shapes our ends." 
God stands within the shadow " keeping watch above 
his own." This is the lesson of this interesting, ad- 
venturous story of •Esther. Two of the chamberlains 
sought to lay hands on the King, and the thing was 
known to Mordecai, who told it to Esther, and she 
to the King. There was no reward, but " it was writ- 
ten in the book of the chronicles." Here is the key. 
For afterwards when things were going as ill as pos- 
sible with Esther and Mordecai, the King had a sleep- 
less night, and called for the book of records. And 
as the King's servants read to him, what should they 
come upon but the story of how Mordecai had saved 
the King's life ! Then came the turning of the tables. 
" It was written," and no one could gainsay the 
record. Can we not believe that God knows and that 
he cares for his own? But why, you say, do things 
go so ill with me? Why do the wicked flourish, and 
I, God's child, am left unrequited? Unknown to you 
God is preparing the key. The record is being kept. 
Your fidelity is being written in the book of remem- 
brance. Some time the truth will come out, for truth 
is stranger than fiction. 



40 FEBRUARY NINE 

a £©an of Letters 

** All my affairs shall Tychicus make known unto you." 

Colossians 4:7. 

THE rosary of Paul's friends is very beautiful. 
With what generous words he speaks of them. 
Lord, give me grace to be both just and gen- 
erous to my friends. We know but one thing about 
Tychicus, that he possessed the unbounded confidence 
of Paul. " The beloved brother and faithful min- 
ister and fellow-servant in the Lord." This is 
enough. He was not destined to be great. His 
sole gift was in being faithful. When Tychicus left 
the apostle's prison in Rome to travel eastward, he 
carried with him, as the apostle's messenger, two 
immortal letters of the Gospel, the Epistle to the 
Colossians and the Epistle to the Ephesians, and 
probably a third one also, the Epistle to Philemon. 
Was not this honor enough for a faithful man, to be 
permitted to .carry three of the New Testament let- 
ters to their destination? Truly he has the distinc- 
tion of being " a man of letters." No man can ever 
truly touch Jesus Christ without coming into the 
light. " Together with Onesimus, the faithful and 
beloved brother." Thereby hangs an interesting 
Gospel story (read the Epistle to Philemon). Paul 
mentions other names, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, 
and then he adds a wonderful tribute — " men that 
have been a comfort unto me." Oh, it would be 
worth while indeed to have some one think that I had 
been a comfort to him! 



FEBRUARY TEN 41 

Silence in ^eatoen 

" And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a 
silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." 

Revelation 8:1. 

THAT half-hour of silence in heaven — what 
was the reason of it? Some say it was a 
silence of awesome expectation, full of fearful 
wondering as to what would come. " Great things 
were upon the wheel of God's providence, and the 
church of God, both in heaven and earth, stood silent 
as became them, to see what God was doing." y So 
writes an old commentator. " Be silent, all flesh, 
before Jehovah," cries the prophet Zechariah. 
There are times when silence is the natural attitude 
of the soul — times when speech must cease — when 
music is impossible — when only silence is the lan- 
guage of the heart. In such times the soul wishes to 
think and be still. Perhaps these heavenly scenes 
are after all a transcript of earthly experiences. 
The stage is heavenly, the meaning is earthly. It 
may be so with the half-hour of silence in heaven. It 
is saying to us that we need silence, thought, medita- 
tion. " Be still and know that I am God." Silence 
is wholesome for the soul. " He who speaks sows, 
he who listens reaps." The Greeks spoke of Epam- 
inondas as one who " will listen eternally. We 
require much time to listen in this life, for there is 
much to hear. He who is never silent misses a vast 
deal. " While I was musing," says the Psalmist, 
" the fire burned." It may be that the silences of 
life are our most useful times. 



42 



FEBRUARY ELEVEN 



©anDicappeO ILitoeg 



" There was given to me a thorn in the flesh — And he 
hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: 
for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

II Corinthians 12:7,9. 






EVERY man must have his handicap. It is 
nature's way. It is God's plan of education. 
" The philosopher is tormented with a tooth- 
ache." Paul did his great work with some thorn of 
suffering in his flesh. Ten thousand victories are 
won every day by those who toil amid their handicaps. 
Cicero thought that Julius Caesar would never make 
a soldier, and Disraeli spoke of Gladstone as a young 
man without a future. Phillips Brooks at gradua- 
tion was urged by his president not to try to preach. 
Dwight L. Moody fairly broke his way into the pul- 
pit, and David Livingstone broke down utterly in 
his first service. Blessed are they who know the 
inspiration of defeat, who learn how to be " faithful 
failures." Adversity is a good school indeed if it 
teach us how to be strong and how to win greater 
victories. The world can never forget Milton's 
blindness and his " ear become angelic." Kitto 
writing his first book in the parish workhouse, 
Mozart composing his " Requiem " with disease invad- 
ing his body, Sir Walter Scott writing " The Bride 
of Lammermoor " with a burden of debt upon him, 
Sidney Lanier, " inheritor of an unfulfilled renown," 
who faced death for years, yet left a deep mark upon 
the world — these and ten thousand others teach us 
the lesson true that handicap is not defeat. 



FEBRUARY TWELVE 43 

^imt*up places 

" Jehovah is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of 
the valleys." 

i Kings 20:28. 

THE hill-tops are God's, but not the valleys. 
So the Syrians thought, but they soon found 
that a change of battle-field from the hills to 
the valleys did not bring them a victory against 
Israel. It was false reasoning then, and it is false 
now. Yet how often we indulge in this false way of 
thinking about God. He is God of our faith, but 
not of our conduct. He is God of our open rebel- 
lion, but not of our secret sins. He is God of our 
sanctuary, but not of our business. He is God of 
our prayers, but not of our pockets. He is God of 
our heart, but not of our conscience. He is God of 
our emotions, but not of our will. He is God of our 
sorrows, but not of our joys. He is God of our 
problems, but not of our pleasures. 

There are so many shut-up places in life into 
which we do not fully admit God. We expect God 
as a matter of course to come into the great experi- 
ences of our life, but too often we keep him out of 
the lesser times and places. W T hy not the valleys 
as well as the hills? Why not that sharp temper of 
yours as well as your conscience? Why not that 
difficult tongue as well as the heart that believes? 
Why not the whole of your disposition as well as the 
worship of your soul? 



44 FEBRUARY THIRTEEN 

" Henceforth let no man trouble me." Galatians 6:17. 

THESE are the words of a believer who is 
thoroughly satisfied with Christ. He de- 
clares that he himself has no other name to 
glory in but Christ's, and nothing else to boast of 
but the Cross of Christ. He declares that what a 
man does for the sake of fulfilling a rite or ceremony 
is in itself of no avail, but what a man is — " a new 
creature." How true is the ring of the Gospel here 
as we know it in our precious experience. Our deep- 
est satisfaction is not in the mere observance of 
religious forms : but rather in the contentment we 
have with Christ as our Saviour, the knowledge we 
have that he has come into our lives and made us new, 
given us new hopes and wishes and plans, widened 
our spiritual horizon, and in every way enlarged the 
measure of our life. So vivid is Paul's experience 
of Christ that he says, " Henceforth let no man 
trouble me." I am satisfied. I am a child of God 
through Christ, and I am going all the way with him. 
I belong to him, " for I bear branded on my body 
the marks of Jesus." Oh, that the world may see the 
marks of Jesus on us, and know that we are his ! Oh, 
that these very marks — the marks of his love and 
sacrifice — may be to us a perpetual reminder that 
we are his, and may call us back from all our wan- 
derings to walk by his side! 



FEBRUARY FOURTEEN 45 

Jciutnepittg ©n and atoap 

" Then Jacob went on his journey." Genesis 29:1. 

THIS is more than a historical statement. It 
is the record of the journeying on of a man 
who had had a wonderful experience. He had 
been where angels of God were ascending and de- 
scending. He had been made the recipient of a 
gracious promise. He had himself taken a solemn 
vow. " Then Jacob went on his journey." Not 
alone a literal journey from Bethel, but a spiritual 
journey away to the land of forgetfulness. The 
story of the twenty years that follow is mostly a 
story of gains and prosperity. . The man Jacob 
waxed great, but there is never a word about his 
vows at Bethel, never a hint about the great experi- 
ence that came to him there. He had gone on his 
journey and left Bethel behind. If God had not fol- 
lowed him out into the barren years, he might have 
wandered on to destruction. 

It is a question always for our souls — have we 
gone on our journey and left any true and great 
experience behind? What about that momentous 
decision? What of that solemn promise to God? 
What of those deep experiences of pain and sorrow? 
What of the times of heart-break and desolation? 
What of the hours of spiritual revealing when life 
was truly like 6i the gate of heaven " ? Few trage- 
dies of the soul are more sorrowful than that of one 
who journeys on and away from holy places. 






46 FEBRUARY FIFTEEN 

MJrottg anO IRigijt (gmpimsts 

" The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when 
thou contest, and the books, especially the parch= 
ments." II Timothy 4:13. 

IF Paul had said, " especially the cloak," we 
might have feared that he was laying emphasis 
on the wrong thing. But he said, " especially 
the parchments," and therein is a lesson worth while. 
He needed the cloak to be sure to cover his shivering 
body in the prison, but most of all he needed the 
parchments, for these were spiritual food. The 
cloak or the parchment — where shall the' chief em- 
phasis lie? 

Our choices dominate us. They color our life. 
If we think more of garments than of grace, life will 
take on the corresponding tone. Taste does not 
grow up over night. We need training in values, 
just as painters need training in colors. Jesus Christ 
is the great expert in values. He has come to give 
us abundant life through our own choice of the best. 
" Especially the parchments." Food for the soul 
to grow upon — let the emphasis of life lie there. 
And when the crisis is on, when " the time of my de- 
parture is at hand," it is the solace of things spiritual 
that lies closest to the soul. One who has lived for 
the high things of the Kingdom of God, and set the 
emphasis of his life upon the grand values of God 
in Christ, has made for himself an unlimited resource. 
He is free indeed whom Christ makes free. 

" Stone walls do not a prison make, 
Nor iron bars a cage." 



FEBRUARY SIXTEEN 47 

jQo S©ean QLitv 

" But Paul said, I am ... a citizen of no mean city." 

Acts 21:39. 

THERE is a just pride which every man ought 
to have in his own locality. " Imagine, if 
you can," says a writer, " that the axis of the 
earth projects from the center of your village 
square." It is true that such pride may become 
overweening and foolish, but when it is cherished with 
wise reserve in the heart it becomes both an orna- 
ment and a source of power. One can almost excuse 
the proud feeling of Naaman the Syrian captain, 
when he said, " Are not Abanah and Pharpar, rivers 
of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? " 
No mighty Hudson or Mississippi can take the place 
in our heart's affection of the little stream that 
passed by the place in which we were born. So ought 
men to feel always about their own, not the bigot's 
pride, nor the selfish man's exclusiveness, but the just 
pride of ownership, of sentiment, of the heart's ro- 
mantic feeling. Believe, if you can, that God has 
set your feet in a large place. Believe that he has 
given you the sweetest bit of mold to stand upon in 
all the earth. Believe that the light of the divine 
Presence shines in the very dwelling where you are, 
and upon the very common task you are doing. " I 
am a citizen of no mean city." 



48 FEBRUARY SEVENTEEN 

H2etier &iu CJp 

" And let us not be weary in well=doing: for in due sea= 
son we shall reap, if we faint not." 

Galatians 6:9. 

BE not weary — that is, literally, do not behave 
badly in well-doing. That is, further, do not 
flag, do not faint, do not lose heart, do not let 
go courage. Never give up ! " And he spake a 
parable unto them to the end that they ought always 
to pray, and " not to behave badly — not to faint." 
We speak of a soldier behaving badly in battle. We 
mean that his heart failed him, he let go, he gave up. 
It was the apostle's idea of faithfulness in the min- 
istry. " Therefore seeing we have this minis- 
try, even as we have obtained mercy," we do not 
behave badly — " we faint not." If one may use a 
common word — the apostle means that we are not 
to funk out in our Christian life and* service. 

What shall we say of the scores of worn-out, 
frazzled-out, exhausted Christians? The least we 
can say is that they have behaved badly in the Chris- 
tian life. Like the soldier in battle they have lost 
heart and given up. And what shall we say of all 
the half-hearted, spiritless, lackadaisical, fainting 
workers in the kingdom? What shall we say of the 
"quitters " in the Christian life? It is a thousand 
pities to be worsted in well-doing. It is a contradic- 
tion. There is absolutely no reason for it. Here 
is the word of assurance. " In due season we shall 
reap, if we faint not." 



FEBRUARY EIGHTEEN 49 

mm 30 Beaton? 

" They serve him day and night in his temple." 

Revelation 7:15. 

A SPIRITUAL state in which there is no zest 
for right and righteousness, a place of worn- 
out souls, a place of departed glory, a place of 
infinite spiritual loss, declension, defeat and decay 
— that is Hell ! It can begin here : it often does. 

And what is Heaven? It is a place where the 
spirits of just men are made perfect, where right and 
righteousness are not worsted, where there is 
no weariness, no worn-outness, no defeat in well- 
doing, a place where every soul is filled with a great 
zest for the service of God. No worn-out passions 
there, no loss of heart for the good and the gracious, 
no fainting and flagging in the presence of duty. 
Heaven is a place where the soul lives at its best, 
where there is no burden, only the joy of righteous- 
ness, where there are no crippled energies, no halt- 
ing endeavors. Heaven is a place where the soul 
experiences a wondrous buoyancy, where duty is life, 
and right is power, and hope is fruition. The 
Scripture again and again sets forth the freedom 
of the soul there — no fear, no dismay, no sorrow, 
no fretting of the spirit, no hunger, no thirst, no 
night. Remembering the things that have beset us 
here, how this great word about the free and abun- 
dant activity of Heaven grips and buoys the soul. 
" They shall serve him day and night in his temple." 
Sursum corda! 



50 FEBRUARY NINETEEN 

§>toeet Wiotm of ©ID 

Read the Book of Ruth. 

THE Book of Ruth is very small — not more 
than three thousand words — but it is crowded 
with sentences that contain the sweetness of 
life and love. No wonder that a writer speaks of it 
as a " wonderful prose poem, sweet, artless and per- 
suasive." When Benjamin Franklin read it to a 
learned society of skeptics in Paris, they immediately 
proposed to print it! 

Listen to the music of these sweet words of old. 
" The Lord deal kindly with you as ye have dealt 
with the dead." How sorrow links hearts together. 
" Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave 
unto her." A turning-point of history. Read this ; 
then read Matthew's genealogy of Jesus — " And 
Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse, 
and Jesse begat David the King." " Whither thou 
goest, I will go ; and where thou lodgest, I will 
lodge." No wonder such devotion had its reward. 
" Her hap was to light on the portion of field belong- 
ing to Boaz." God was behind the hap. " Where 
hast thou gleaned to-day? " The memories of many 
of life's harvests are in these words. " 6 The Lord be 
with you.' And they answered him, * The Lord bless 
thee ! ' " What courtesy is like that we show one 
another in the Lord? "Blessed be the Lord which 
hath not left thee this day without a near kinsman." 
Down through the centuries these sweet words echoed 
until the true Kinsman and Redeemer of souls came. 



FEBRUARY TWENTY 51 

©pen ^)i0 OBpeg! 

" Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see." 

II Kings 6:17. 

MANY of us need what Elisha's young man 
needed, the opening of eyes. " They seeing, 
see not," was our Lord's description of all 
such. It is quite possible for one to be looking, yet 
not to be seeing. Some one spoke incredulously to 
Turner about his pictures. " I never saw such sun- 
sets," he said. "Don't you wish you could?" was 
the artist's reply. Our world is " full of a number 
of things " which our eyes do not see. We need 
training in observation in order that we may see. 
The delights of a journey through the country 
up hill and down dale, how great they are. Yes, 
provided we can see. If our eyes are not open, a 
thousand beautiful things escape us. The different 
tints of blue in the sky, the deft balancing of the bird 
on the wing, the shy unknown flower by the road- 
side — alas ! if we have no eyes for such things. 
Lord, open our eyes to the beauty of the world we 
live in! 

Elisha's servant could see the horses and chariots 
that were against them, but he could not see the 
horses and chariots of fire that were for them. That 
is, we can see material values, but not spiritual 
forces. We can see the riches of Wall Street, but 
not the " unsearchable riches " of Christ. We have 
open eyes for the many wonderful things in men and 
books, but not for the " wondrous things " of God's 
law. Lord, open our eyes to spiritual things ! 



52 FEBRUARY TWENTY-ONE 

TBtine Crue to tfte past 

" Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers 
have set." Proverbs 22:28. 

A MAN plowed a furrow around his land and 
set up here and there boundary stones to 
mark the extent of his property. In a coun- 
try where there were no surveyors, no public records, 
no line fences, the removal of a landmark might 
mean great social confusion, even social contention. 
In effect these ancient landmarks came in time to 
stand for the influence of the past, and it became a 
religious duty with men to regard the past with 
scrupulous care. The writer of Proverbs was think- 
ing not merely of the little heaps of stones set up 
in the desert to mark boundaries of property. He 
was thinking also of how the past has set up marks 
and boundaries for life, and of how we of the pres- 
ent ought to keep and use whatever is sacred in the 
past, and not destroy it or break it down. 

" I love it, I love it, 
And who shall dare 
To chide me for loving 
The old arm chair? " 

The Bible counsels men to regard the teachers and 
teachings of youth, to respect the aged, to venerate 
wholesome tradition, to treasure the memories of days 
gone by, to value the unearned gifts and graces of 
ancestry, to feel the pulse of history in the life of 
to-day. Happy is the home that cherishes the an- 
cient landmarks. 



FEBRUARY TWENTY-TWO 5S 

Ontotee O0e of tjje ISarometer 

" I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therein to be 
content." Philippians 4:11. 

I AM not sure that the barometer is as useful as 
many persons would have us believe. If the 
mercury in the little tube could but keep well 
at the top, prophesying good weather day by day, 
it would be the most useful of instruments. But 
because forsooth the mercury must sometimes go 
down, the barometer only seems to add to that tend- 
ency which is so common among us, to borrow 
trouble and to magnify the disagreeable things in 
life. A man looks at his barometer in the morn- 
ing, and observing how low the mercury is, he goes 
out with the expectation of a gray and heavy day. 
The truth is that we must learn to use the barometer 
wisely. After all the mercury in the tube is merely 
a sign of the weather. It does not create the 
weather. Least of all can it create the weather of 
the heart. The trouble comes with looking at the 
barometer too much. It gets us into the habit of 
expecting bad weather. If we are expecting the dis- 
agreeable it is almost sure to come. There is a way 
that some have of looking for trouble. They are 
quite certain to find it. To be sure, " some days must 
be dark and dreary." " Perpetual sunshine " would 
be a calamity. Do not blame the barometer for doing 
its duty. But do not consult it over-much. Do 
not regulate your life by the barometer. Trust in 
God all the day and all the way. 



54 FEBRUARY TWENTY-THREE 

Scamping 2Dur Wiotk 

" It is required in stewards, that a man be found faith= 

fill." I Corinthians 4:2. 

WE are stewards of God, and this is the re- 
quirement of the office, " that a man be 
found faithful." This is the true spirit of 
service, to be faithful to one's work and to the Lord 
of the work and the worker. A busy man replied 
to the question as to what he had to be thankful for 
in this way — " I am thankful that I have an in- 
clination to work." "Blessed is the man who has 
found his work," said Carlyle. But there is some- 
thing more. Blessed is the man who, having found 
his work, is faithful in doing it. To be faithful 
means to do the small things as well as the large 
things. In " The Seven Lamps of Architecture " 
John Ruskin tells us that the spirit of workmanship 
is best shown in the way a man works in the dark 
places as well as in the open places. Fidelity is 
what a man does in the shadows under the cornices. 
Is he a true and careful workman there as well as 
in the sunlight? We have often looked at some 
strong and useful life and wondered about the 
source of its power. Usually such lives are faithful 
to the uttermost. God needs a multitude of stewards 
who will serve quietly and faithfully. Do your 
duty; do not idle, do not dawdle, do not evade. 
Mr. Spurgeon spoke of those who " scamp " their 
work. 



FEBRUARY TWENTY-FOUR 55 

Cfte CimDUfee Spirit 

"And a little child shall lead them." Isaiah 11:6. 

WHEN the kingdom of God is fully come to 
the hearts of men, there will be a new era 
in this world — " a little child shall lead 
them." That is, the world peoples and the world 
forces shall then be controlled, not by weakness, 
but by the strength which comes from loving and 
obeying God. In other words, the childlike spirit 
will prevail in the places where otherwise selfishness, 
ambition and force are in control. When Christ 
came he renewed the charter of his kingdom in the 
childlike spirit. He took a child and set him in 
the midst of his disciples, and made him the type 
of his kingdom. He also laid down this principle, 
" Except ye become as little children, ye shall in no 
wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." What does 
all this mean? It means just this, that life in the 
kingdom of God is made up of a number of child- 
like things, such as love, joy, peace, trust, meekness. 
It means that the kingdom of God stands not for 
force or fear, or blood or revenge, or resentment or 
hatred, or war — none of these things. For none of 
these things are childlike. " A little child " — the 
childlike spirit — " shall lead them." When nations, 
states, communities, families, churches, institutions, 
corporations, neighbors, individuals, learn the mean- 
ing of this, the peace of God shall be realized, and 
" the meek shall inherit the earth." 






56 FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIVE 

Cfte jfttlp Spoken ftOorD 

" A word in due season, how good is it! " 

Proverbs 15:23. 

AND to this add that other even more beauti- 
ful description of the right word in the right 
place — " A word fitly spoken is like apples 
of gold in baskets of silver." No careless art is 
this fine art of speech. With it we can make or mar, 
heal or hurt. No wonder the Psalmist prays, " Set 
a watch, Lord, before my mouth; keep the door 
of my lips." We do not sufficiently realize what 
good we can do with our words, and also what harm. 
Now and then we learn that some word of ours 
spoken in due season has lived in the life of a soul 
through the years. How it cheers us to know this. 
But what of the word that was spoken out of season, 
the word that was lacking in love, the word that had 
bitterness in it? Who can say how deeply such a 
word has gone into some human breast, and what 
heartache it has produced? " The world is rank- 
ling from hasty speech." Speech should be made 
a means of grace like prayer. The man who speaks 
graciously and kindly is a treasure to his neighbors, 
and a delight to all who hear him. He makes life 
easier and better. There was a man in Exeter, Eng- 
land, of whom it was said that " he was in, the habit 
of dropping sentences that changed people's lives." 






FEBRUARY TWENTY-SIX » 57 

Cfte faster attD 3 

11 1 know mine own, and mine own know me." 

John 10:14. 

IF there be one of us who fails to find cheer in 
this good word of the Master, I am much sur- 
prised. Rather there is such a thrill here as the 
heart can scarcely miss. What a personal touch 
the Gospel has ! How profoundly individual the in- 
terest of Jesus is ! If we could imagine him coming 
into our home, or our place of business, or our 
•church, he would speak every name with perfect 
familiarity. " I know mine own." That is how 
personal his interest is — each name is upon his 
heart. Think too of how much this carries with it. 
If there is any concern of yours, any trouble, any 
burden, and you can hardly get along with it be- 
cause it is heavy and hard, why, I want you to know 
that your concern is the Master's also. He knows 
his sheep in that personal and intimate way. Do 
not imagine for one moment that you are ever for- 
gotten, or ever can be. All that interests you claims 
his interest too. Each of us has his own identity 
in the Lord's kingdom. None of us is ever lost to 
view. " The Master and I " — one may say this and 
think this all day long without presumption. It 
brings to the heart a sweet sense of intimacy like 
that which men feel when a dear, familiar song is 
sung, or when a message is spoken that calms the 
inward storm. 



58 FEBRUARY TWENTY-SEVEN 

iReltgion Cftat Costs iQotinng 

" Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah my 
God which cost me nothing." 

II Samuel 24:24. 

IN ordinary circumstances King David would have 
accepted a gift from Araunah the Jebusite, but 
he could not allow himself to use an altar that 
cost him nothing. He was right. Religion that 
costs nothing misses the spirit of sacrifice. The 
Gospel is free, but it is not cheap. God's invest- 
ment for us is very heavy, in order to open " the 
riches of his grace which he made to abound to- 
ward us." His love is costly. " God so loved the 
world that he gave." Christ's sacrifice is costly. 
" He emptied himself." " Though he was rich he 
became poor." Religion is also costly to the be- 
liever. Repentance is not cheap, it is dear. Faith 
is not cheap, it is expensive. Obedience is not cheap, 
it comes high. If religion did not call for a real 
investment, it would hardly be worth while. Re- 
ligion must cost us something'. There are many 
who have not learned this truth. They do not take 
religion seriously. They attend worship at their 
convenience. They give offerings if the weather per- 
mits. If religion interferes with their own pleasure 
or profit, alas for religion! If they need the Sab- 
bath for recreation or business, alas for the Sab- 
bath ! If the duties of discipleship grow heavy, they 
shift them to other shoulders. If the obligations of 
the Christian life require sacrifice, they evade them. 
They want religion without cost. 



FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHT 59 

OBeatituDes (or Cfturcft S©emfiet0 

" Blessed are they." Matthew 5:6. 

BLESSED is the man whose watch keeps church 
time as well as business time. 
Blessed is the man who is generous to his 
neighbor in all things except the " applica- 
tion." 
Blessed is the man whose calendar contains prayer- 
meeting night. 
Blessed is the man who is faithful on a committee. 
Blessed is the man who will not strain at a drizzle 

and swallow a downpour. 
Blessed is the man whose watch closes without a 

snap. 
Blessed is the man who loves the church with his 

pocket as well as with his lips. 
Blessed is the man who leaves the critical spirit on 

the sidewalk. 
Blessed is the man who is not afraid of spoiling the 

minister by a word of praise. 
Blessed is the man who has patience as well as piety. 
Blessed is the man who has grace enough to give up 
the end seat. 






60 FEBRUARY TWENTY-NINE 

J^oto Ho0t ©trengtft IRetutns 

" They that wait for Jehovah shall renew their 
strength." Isaiah 40:31. 

IT is a good word to read and meditate upon, 
for we all know what it means to feel strength 
leaving us. There are many things in this 
world that withdraw our strength. We need fre- 
quent renewals. And for this God's prophet has 
given us a heartening word. " They that wait for 
Jehovah." There are several ways of waiting. The 
most obvious is just to wait. When the Lord's ways 
seem dark and we cannot understand — then " wait 
patiently for Jehovah." In the dark hours when the 
light is so long in coming there is but one thing to 
say — " My soul waiteth in silence for God only." 
" In God have I put my ^rust ; I will not be afraid." 
There is also the waiting of obedience. " Commit thy 
way unto Jehovah." " Trust in Jehovah and do 
good." Use what strength you have for God, and 
he will renew your strength. The way of duty is 
the way of renewal. " Walk worthily " of the Lord, 
and it cannot be but that you will be " strengthened 
with all power." Wait upon the Lord also in prayer. 
Prayer girds the soul anew and makes it fit for the 
battle. Are you tempted to give up? Is the con- 
flict too great for you? Does your spirit fail within 
you ? Is your strength clean spent ? Then pray — 
" pray without ceasing ! " It is wonderful how lost 
strength returns in prayer. 



MARCH ONE 61 

mest 

" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." 

Matthew 11:28. 

IT is inconceivable that any one can ever hear this 
sentence of Jesus without a thrill of the heart. 
It voices our need so deeply, it comprehends our 
longing so fully ! The history of this sentence be- 
longs to the heart. It is no academic, no scholastic 
formula. In Athens or Rome it would have been 
sniffed at as beneath the level of the high mentality 
of the Academy or the Porch. Nevertheless the 
shores of the little lake where Jesus stood and spoke 
this sentence to the heart have become a great whis- 
pering gallery to carry his message into all the 
world. For everywhere there are hearts that are 
hungry for rest. You will not mistake his meaning if 
you know him. He did not mean monastic calm, 
the beating of the body and mind into sullen sub- 
mission. He did not mean the quiet that comes 
from standing away from the stream of action, the 
rest of the indifferent spectator. He did not mean 
the rest of disassociation, of mental abstraction, of 
mere abstention. He did not mean any sort of en- 
forced or labored calm in the soul. The world has 
tried all these and found, them vain. What he of- 
fered to men was the rest of an uplifting, cleansing, 
joyous companionship. " Come unto ME, and I 
will give you rest." O heart, come home, home from 
all thy wanderings. Christ is home for the heart. 
Seek no farther. " Come unto me," 



62 MARCH TWO 

Consecrating t&e Commonplace 

" Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I 
am the least in my father's house." 

Judges 6:15. 

THE Bible takes pains to emphasize common life. 
What splendid uses God finds for the common- 
place. Saints are not made out of splashes 
of gold leaf and blue, but out of common human 
material caught up into the grandeur of God's king- 
dom. Therefore in the Old Testament we meet with 
four shepherds doing God's work, Abraham, Moses, 
David and Amos, and with such a one as Gideon, who 
was called from the threshing-floor, his family " the 
poorest in Manasseh." It is well to surround our re- 
ligion with " sweetness and light." But let us never 
forget that Christianity is a rugged faith. It was 
born in a manger. It came out from the common 
people. This rugged old faith clamors for the ozone 
of the open air. Think not to shut it up in art gal- 
leries and cloisters. It grows musty and dust-strewn 
if you seclude it in libraries. Christianity is no par- 
lor game. Let it out where it can work, amid the 
commonplace things of life, the common toil, the com- 
mon duty, the common sin. Beauty and art and 
architecture are noble gifts to bring to the Son of 
Man. But he desires first the " uncalculating en- 
thusiasm " of men, the initiative, the grasp, the en- 
terprise, learned in daily toil, together with those 
patient endeavors, those ordinary chivalries, those 
heats of moral passion, which are experienced in 
common life. 



MARCH THREE 63 

ISuping up ©pportunitp 

" Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." 

Ephesians 5:16. 

REDEEMING the time ! Literally, buying up 
the opportunity. The market of life is 
crowded with opportunity, and we are to go 
into the market to buy it up, and use it for the 
Lord. How much unused opportunity there is. 
Often it is given to us freely, but at other times 
we must pay the price. No Christian, for example, 
will ever lack for opportunity for Christian work, if 
only he is willing to pay the price of opportunity. 
And what is the price? Often it is so slight a thing 
as attention. Opportunity is here staring us in the 
face, but if we have no interest, no alertness, we may 
not see it. 

The world is all gates and doors. Yet there are 
some who will travel a whole day and never discover 
an opening. Opportunity is often to be found in 
out-of-the-way places. Philip went out in the des- 
ert — a most unlikely place — yet even there he 
found an opportunity waiting to be bought up. 
" Behold, a man of Ethiopia reading the prophet 
Isaiah ! " Opportunity is not always set forth at- 
tractively like goods on a counter. Often the best 
is on the shelf. 

When one takes the trouble to buy up an oppor- 
tunity he really possesses it for himself. So many 
of our hours we never really redeem — never really 
buy them up for our own possession. 



64 MARCH FOUR 

pleasant Surprises 

" There is nothing." I Kings 18:43. 

THERE are many disagreeable things in this 
world, but there are also many pleasant sur- 
prises. Six times the prophet's servant went 
up to the top of the mountain and saw nothing. 
He had ceased to expect anything. But the seventh 
time there came a pleasant surprise — " a cloud as 
small as a man's hand." What a bundle of sur- 
prises nature is. In the springtime it would seem 
that God is determined to awaken us from our dull- 
ness and our sluggishness, our coldness and our old- 
ness. He is challenging us now to plant our seed in 
the earth and see what nature will do. 

" O little bulb, uncouth, 

Ragged and rusty brown, 
Have you some dew of youth? 
Have you a crimson gown? 
Plant me and see 
What I shall be — 
God's fine surprise 
Before your eyes ! " 

Our trouble too often is that surprise has gone 
out of us. Why, I can actually take one of these 
flowers and break it in pieces and scatter it or cast 
it into the oven without thinking about it. That is 
how thoughtless and how lacking in wonder I am. 



MARCH FIVE 65 

Cfie e©ii0ic of iQature 

" The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice 
of the turtle=dove is heard in our land." 

Song of Solomon 2:12. 

NATURE is full of music. There are har- 
monies everywhere, in the cricket's chirp, in 
the hum of the bees, in the whirring of the 
partridge, in the swish of the farmer's scythe, in 
the click of the cottage gate at night. There are 
words in our language even that undertake to repro- 
duce the music of nature, like buzz, and hum, and 
whirr, and whippoorwill. The first chirp of the 
robin or the bluebird in the spring — how quickly 
the door of the heart flies open at the sound! The 
frogs that sing in the old pond near the farmhouse 
— sometimes you can hear them still, although 
years have fled. 

" The music in my heart I bore 
Long after it was heard no more." 

Hold the sea-shell to the ear — that is old Ocean's 
music reduced to the compass and capacity of the 
human ear. And the echo ! What elusive, vanish- 
ing music is that I The Hebrews called it " the 
laughter of the voice." There is music in the air 
too. French scientists ascended in a balloon above 
the clouds at early morning and heard the sounds 
made by the air in process of heating, like a great 

IiEolian harp. And does not the sacred poet tell us 
that " the morning stars sang together"? 



66 MARCH SIX 

15le00eO T3t appetite 

" Give us this day our daily bread." 

Matthew 6:11. 

" Some hae meat and canna eat, 

And some wad eat that want it; 
But we hae meat and we can eat, 
And sae the Lord be thankit." 

WHILE we are asking God for our daily 
bread and are thanking him for his abund- 
ant daily answer to our petition, let us also 
thank him for appetite. How mysterious yet how 
beneficent is that economy of our nature which 
greets the gift of food with the gift of appetite. 
Day by day, year in and year out, the desire of 
nature returns to us, and we seek our food with 
eagerness and rejoicing. God gives food to the 
eater, but he also brings the eater with relish to his 
food. What is the fullest banqueting table with- 
out the desire to eat? If nature merely required us 
to eat to support life, but furnished no response 
and no relish of our own, eating would be a mere 
mechanical process shorn of divine grace and void 
of human delight. Daily we should go to our tables 
like slaves driven to a hated task. If God had not 
given us taste, if he had not mysteriously endowed 
us with physical relish, eating would have been the 
veriest humdrum and punishment of our existence. 
Blessed be appetite! 



MARCH SEVEN 67 

C6e Inntt Mtt 

"The Kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21. 

GOD is not content with the outward life alone. 
He desires to reign in the inner life, in the 
true realm of personality. Every man and 
woman of us is heavily endowed. We have unsearch- 
able riches, riches past finding out, that we are 
carrying about with us daily, not in the pockets of 
our garments, but in the pockets of the mind, in the 
pigeonholes of the soul. I have known men and 
women who had scarcely a dollar, little else than a 
sweet and gracious disposition, yet the world counted 
them rich. These hidden riches of the inner life often 
escape notice. They do not glitter over-much. 
They shine in quiet places. There is no glamour 
about them. One has a feeling that there is some 
unseen supply that keeps flowing like a spring. We 
have all seen these spectacles. We have all been im- 
pressed with the reality of this inner life. We have 
seen those who were left bare, stripped of outward 
pomp and circumstance, nevertheless something con- 
tinued to shine within. On such occasions we are 
aware of a certain majesty about life, a certain 
royal prestige and flavor. We have often suspected 
that kings and queens were living close to us, for 
we have heard, not the rustle of royal garments, we 
have seen no scepters and no thrones, but we have 
heard royal words spoken in tones that were ever so 
quiet and ever so real. 



68 MARCH EIGHT 

aiorp in tfte Scorning 

" And the glory of Jehovah came into the house, by the 
way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east." 

Ezekiel 43 '.4. 

JOY cometh in the morning. Glory enters the 
house " by the way of the gate whose pros- 
pect is toward the east." There is a cer- 
tain charm about the word mornmg, a veritable 
witchery of language. The morning of the day, the 
morning of life ! " Morning hearts and morning 
faces," says Stevenson. We were all of us poorer 
without such a word. It links itself in our thought 
with life's freshness and vigor. It speaks of new 
beginnings, of strong initiative, of hopefulness, of 
those masterful abilities that men have in their souls 
against the steady stress of time, rejoicing " as a 
strong man to run his course." One speaks the 
word with a sort of caress — The Mornmg. To-day 
is a hard day, and the shadows are thick upon us. 
But in the morning things will be better. To-night 
how weary I am, but the morning shall find me fresh 
again. We go forth to our labors in the morning. 
We make our prayers in the morning. We set our 
hopes high in the morning. We sow our seed in the 
morning. We sing our best songs in the morning. 
The morning is God's new call to the soul, God's 
fresh invitation to grace, God's open pathway to the 
feet. " When morning gilds the skies," God comes 
anew to the soul, bringing gifts " with the dew on 
them." The gate whose prospect is toward the 
east, how full of God's glory it is! 



MARCH NINE 69 

Life a&uttDant 

" I came that they may have life, and may have it 
abundantly." John 10:10. 

TO this day Christ's mission is the same — to 
give life. Are there any of us who are living 
• at a poor dying rate " ? The Master of 
men is here to give life to us abundantly. Life like 
that of the summer-time, when the flowers bloom, 
and the birds sing, and the brooks dance joyously, 
and the cattle browse in the rich meadows, and all 
things are glad. Oh, to have Jesus Christ bring full 
summer-time into my heart! 

Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a weird tale of a pro- 
fessor who brewed a strange elixir, and when some 
drops of the mysterious fluid fell upon a stunted 
plant that was about to die, the plant sprang into 
new and luxuriant life. The Word of Christ the 
Lord is like that strange elixir, for it has power to 
revive a drooping heart, to lift up a fallen soul, and 
to bring back a lost or broken life. The love of God 
in Christ can break the bondage of sinful habit. 

There is an old story of a castle whose gates could 
not be opened until the true Prince came and took 
down the horn that hung by the gate and sounded it 
clear and strong. One day after long waiting the 
Prince came in the early morning, and all the hills 
and valleys were soon reverberating with the winding 
of the horn. Then the gates of the castle opened! 



70 MARCH TEN 

a Murmuring motlt 

" Do all things without murmurings and questionings." 

Philippians 2:14. 

IT is appalling to think how much murmuring 
there is among the people. It is almost a mur- 
muring world. It is not to be wondered at that 
the apostle Paul writes this sweeping text to the 
Philippian Christians — " Do all things without mur- 
murings." It would be a beautiful sight indeed, 
and in delightful contrast with the world's way, to 
see a company of Christian believers going about 
their duty without " murmurings and questionings." 
" Theirs not to reason why." How daringly com- 
prehensive the Scripture is — " All things." God 
knows our tendency to half-measures and petty in- 
dulgences. 

Murmuring is first on the tongue. The very word 
fits the tongue with its imitative sound. There are 
some whose tongues seem shaped for murmuring. 
At least they have so long yielded to this manner of 
utterance that their tongues roll off one complaint 
after another with entire ease. These murmuring 
tongues complain of the weather, of food, of the 
times, of life conditions, of their fellow-men, of the 
Church, of everything in heaven above and in the 
earth beneath. When the tongue has the murmur- 
ing habit, nothing less than the grace of God can 
cure it. For the trouble is that the sound of mur- 
muring on the tongue strikes in upon life itself. It 
becomes a habit of thought, an attitude of life. 









MARCH ELEVEN 71 

Cfte Coucft Cftat 30 JQeeDeO 

" Let patience have its perfect work." James 1:4. 

EMPHASIZE perfect! This is as much as to 
say, let patience do its best for you, and the 
best that patience can do is something very 
good indeed. It is able to beautify and round out 
character — " that ye may be perfect and entire." 
May it not be that patience is one of those integral 
elements in life that has to do with everything else, 
so that when it is present in abundance, the life 
grows toward completion, " lacking in nothing " ? 
A man who has many virtues, but who lacks in pa- 
tience — what an anomaly such a one is ! As if 
an artist should paint a picture, putting in many 
touches of beauty, but should totally fail to put ex- 
pression into the picture. A mother said one day, 
" My son could draw your picture — he could do 
it in a few moments — but somehow he cannot put 
expression into his drawings." Omitting patience 
from one's character is like leaving out the expres- 
sion in a picture. We have seen souls whose patience 
was of such a quality that it seemed almost to be a 
foretoken of immortality, a note and promise of per- 
manency. 

Our trouble too often is that we do not let patience 
do its perfect work for us. We court patience to- 
day and bid it defiance to-morrow. We have patient 
periods, then we have other periods when patience is 
put to rout. 



72 MARCH TWELVE 

11 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren 
the priests, and they builded the sheep=gate." 

Nehemiah 3:1. 

APPARENTLY Nehemiah's builders began to 
build the wall at the sheep-gate. This is 
not a meaningless circumstance. The sheep- 
gate was the place of sacrifice. All good building 
must begin at the sheep-gate. We shall never build 
the wall in a magnificent way until we learn to work 
over against the sheep-gate. The Bible says this 
in a thousand ways, over and over again. Haphaz- 
ard has no vogue in the Kingdom of God. Easy- 
going is not written on the walls of Zion. 

Religion is necessarily thoroughgoing. It makes 
strong claims upon us. It asks for the best we can 
give. The glory of religion is that it calls for sacri- 
fice. If it did not call for sacrifice, it would be a 
religion of half-measures. The Old Testament wor- 
shipper knew better than to bring a blemished sheep 
to the altar. He had been taught that God de- 
manded the best, and that he would spurn a gift 
that came lame to the altar. God is not content 
with our " spare cash " only — that which may or 
may not be left over, after every creature need is 
supplied. " Spare cash " does not represent sacri- 
fice. A mere fragment of time, a few shreds of tal- 
ent, an occasional spasm of devotion — are these not 
lame sheep coming to God's altars? If any of us 
have fallen upon easy ways of living the Christian 
life, let us begin to work at the sheepgate. 



MARCH THIRTEEN 73 

Cfte Cintoalrteg of tfte Cross 

" The love of Christ constraineth us." 

II Corinthians 5:14. 

THE Age of Chivalry can never cease while 
Jesus Christ, the Prince among all Knights 
of the soul, rides his white horse of victory, 
with a name written on his vesture and on his thigh, 
" King of kings, and Lord of lords." Under his 
touch the knightly virtues of love and loyalty, chiv- 
alry and service, spring into being. Where he leads, 
courage and beauty grow, and the seeds of a thou- 
sand thoughts burst into flower. With such a 
Master to inspire them the eagerness of men passes 
into action. Philanthropies spring up, institutions 
of helpfulness arise, such as hospitals and missions, 
and the chivalries of the cross multiply. Who can 
remain selfish and self-satisfied when Christ becomes 
Master of the heart? When he comes knighthood is 
in flower. 

" I thought that Christ had given me birth 
To brother all the sons of earth." 

Being himself the true Great Heart, he proposes 
to make his disciples Great Hearts in sympathy and 
action. The " great adventurous touch " of the 
Prince's sword is upon us. Let us go forth and 
serve ! 



74 MARCH FOURTEEN 

l£>e J^a0 JLeft JRoom 

" Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up 
on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of 
Christ." Colossians 1:24. 

TO " fill up on my part that which is lacking." 
Not that Christ has left any deficiency in 
his sufferings for the world, but that he has 
left room in his sufferings for his followers, who are 
to " fill up " the place reserved for them in the 
"afflictions of Christ." "To you it hath been 
granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe 
on him, but also to suffer in his behalf." " That I 
may know him — and the fellowship of his suffer- 
ings." What a flash of light all this throws upon 
the labors and sorrows of a Christian. Duty seems 
hard and often the fascination of the Christian task 
wanes, and the joy of sacrifice disappears. But 
what if we realize that we are joined with Christ 
in sacrifice and suffering? What noble, uplifting 
companionship ! Think of this when you are under- 
going some severe trial or bearing some heavy bur- 
den. You are in " the fellowship of his sufferings." 
Even our least trials are thus lifted to a high plane. 
Is it not wonderful to think of, that Christ relates 
our sufferings to his own, allowing us to fill up the 
place that he left vacant for us? How sacred our 
difficulties and sorrows become in this light! 






MARCH FIFTEEN 75 

JLitJing 6p Defeat 

" When I am weak, then am I strong." 

II Corinthians 12:10. 

DEFEAT is not necessarily a blind alley. 
Often it opens out into a better way. Men 
frequently need to know how weak they are, 
before they can gather strength. " My power is 
made perfect in weakness." Blessed are they who 
know the hidden beauty of failure. They who live 
in their successes only are not to be condemned, they 
are to be pitied. They cut themselves off from the 
other half of God's economy. God intends us to 
live by our defeats as well as by our successes. The 
knots of trees, the corrugations of the bark, mark 
the discipline of failure. Disease itself may be called 
failure. How often the body triumphs and gathers 
greater strength in its victory over disease. 

The crucifixion might be called the anti-climax, 
the failure of Jesus. But how glorious, how master- 
ful, the recovery in the resurrection! Our Lord 
was declared to be the Son of God with power by 
his resurrection from the dead. Strength came out 
of weakness. To know " how sublime a thing it is 
to suffer and be strong " — that is living by defeat, 
that is rising out of weakness into strength. Suf- 
fering has latent strength within it. We can suffer 
and be strong as the result of suffering. We can 
endure defeat so as to live by it in a better way. 



76 MARCH SIXTEEN 

i&eligion of JRemnants 



" The residue (remnant) thereof he maketh a god, even 
his graven image." Isaiah 44:17 

THE absurdity of idolatry is what the prophet 
is writing about. It is a good instance of 
biblical humor. See the picture. The idola- 
ter has hewn down a tree for the purpose of making 
an idol. But first he puts a part of the tree in the 
fire to warm himself. Then he bethinks himself of 
other things that can be done with parts of the tree 
— too bad to waste anything. Why not bake some 
bread? Why not roast some meat? For himself 
you see this is done — for his own appetite. I 
thought that he was making a god out of the tree! 
Yes, but he intends to hew as close to the line as 
possible. He intends to use every available inch of 
timber for himself, and to turn the remnant into a 
deity. This is the force of the prophet's satire — 
" the residue thereof he maketh a god." The ab- 
surdity, not to say the injustice, of it is very plain. 
But what about our own practice of this religion 
of remnants? Are there any who give God the rem- 
nant of time? Any who give him the pitiful rem- 
nant of their days? Any who give him the merest 
remnant of their substance? Are there any who 
think to satisfy every creature comfort, to indulge 
all selfish pleasure, to pursue every personal bent, 
leaving to God the poor residue of their lives? 
" Seek ye first his Kingdom and his righteousness." 






MARCH SEVENTEEN 77 

Cftere 1$ Wioik to Do 

" My Father worketh even until now, and I work." 

John 5:17. 

AND why do we not all take this up and add, 
" And I also work "? For that is the spirit 
which the Lord would see in men. " The 
night cometh when no man can work," said he. 
Therefore " we must work the works of him that sent 
us, while it is day." What a mighty emphasis is 
thus laid upon the value of every day. Was ever a 
more disastrous thing to do than to " kill " time? 
They who do it fail to realize that they are breaking 
connection with the Father and the Son, whose work 
goes on forever. How can any child of God be con- 
tent to waste time, when he remembers how busy 
the Son of Man was when he was on earth? There 
is work to do to-day, and in the doing of it we take 
our places in a long and noble line of workers, that 
stretches from the Throne of God above to the Cross 
of Christ on Cavalry, and thence out into the wide 
world and on into the years. What a wide commu- 
nity of workers ! We may grow weary m our work, 
but let us never grow weary of our work. "' Blessed 
is the man who has found his work." Some one has 
furnished a companion morning prayer to the even- 
ing prayer of childhood. 

" Now I get me up to work, 
I pray the Lord I may not shirk." 



78 MARCH EIGHTEEN 

Cfte KDeal ©ome 

" Except Jehovah build the house, they labor in vain that 
build it." Psalms 127:1. 

WHAT a wonderful place is the Home. Love 
will blossom there and bear beautiful fruit. 
Courtesy also will flourish, and kindness 
and chivalry. A few good books on the shelves 
will stimulate the intellect and refine the thought. 
Some pictures on the wall will lift the curtain of the 
mind and unfold new visions to the imagination. A 
musical instrument will give expression to the finer 
tastes of the soul, and will evoke here and there the 
growth of the fine arts. An atmosphere of rever- 
ence will be there, and the sound of prayer will be 
heard. The Good Book also will have its place. 
The very atmosphere will be charged, as if by elec- 
tricity, with that wholly supernatural, yet deeply 
human thing called Love. When a man at the end 
of his day's toil has gone back to his appointed 
dwelling-place, no matter how humble, he has come 
to the place where his soul should grow. At table, 
or beneath the evening light, with the faces of his 
loved ones close at hand, or a good friend with an 
open heart, or with a good book in hand, or with 
some enterprise of domestic joy to fashion, or some 
plan of neighborliness to consider, or some human 
need or service to meditate upon — amid such simple 
scenes of joy and contentment he prepares for 
Heaven. 



MARCH NINETEEN 79 

J^ougeftoiO peace 

" Peace be to this house." Luke 10:5. 

WHETHER the peace of God can abide in 
the household depends much upon the grace 
and peace of each one, for the wisdom of 
the home rests with the individual. The enrichment 
of each member means the strengthening and beauti- 
fying of the household, for each has a duty, each has 
a responsibility. The whole fabric of the house is 
delicately adjusted. Its balance is easily destroyed. 
Each must fulfill his or her part. 

The man must furnish his own equation, what- 
ever it may be, affection, strength, wisdom, and 
withal a great dependableness of the masculine stock, 
a loyalty such as will last in bad weather, and a 
large and beautiful protectiveness and tenderness 
toward all that are in the house. 

The woman must bring all that she can, the 
sweet affection of her soul, the wonderful strength 
also of the feminine stock, domestic virtue and 
" childware care," if that be her j oyous privilege, 
and such grace as is woman's gift alone, with a mini- 
mum of fault-finding and a maximum of trust and 
praise. For the weakness of the man is that he 
loves to be praised, whilst the wonder of Nature is 
that she has made the woman capable of giving 
praise. 

Keep the romance of the home alive. Let Christ 
sanctify the marriage, and guide in building within 
four walls a true Kingdom of the Heart. 



MARCH TWENTY 

Cftp Spotfter 

" Then saith he to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! " 

John 19:27. 

44 A N ounce of mother is worth a pound of 
/-\ clergy." Fine tribute was that which Im- 
manuel Kant, grave and profound philoso- 
pher, paid to his mother. " Often she led me out- 
side the city and showed me the works of God." 
Divine office indeed to show the works of God to the 
heart of a child! The world's finest thinking starts 
in the home, within the domain of motherhood. " To 
have lain on the hearth-rug and listened to one's 
mother reading aloud was a liberal education." 
The fine and sympathetic intelligence of a mother's 
mind — neither schools nor teachers can take its 
place. We can trace it, all of us, like a silken 
thread, in the best instincts we have. They said of 
David Livingstone that he had his mother's eyes. 
Even savages in the wilderness caught the light of 
them. 

" Love like unto a mother's love." Men use this 
phrase because all men know how deep and strong 
a mother's love is. In the life of Thomas Carlyle is 
preserved a splendid though homely picture of his 
Scotch mother in the chimney-corner, sharpening her 
pencil and toiling at the task of learning to write, 
that she might follow her gifted boy out into the 
world with the letters of a mother's hand. The fol- 
lowing power of a mother's love — how it protects, 
how it arms the souls of men. " Behold, thy 
mother ! " 









MARCH TWENTY-ONE 81 

Cfte Cf)ilD in tfte J£>ome 

" My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake 
not the law of thy mother." 

Proverbs 1:8. 

THE child is an important personal equation 
in the home. He must be taught to furnish 
his quota of success and beauty. He must 
early learn obedience and long practise it. He must 
learn reverence for those who have lived longer than 
he, and he must know that a child's best virtue is 
often the virtue of silence. He must learn — God 
grant that he may ! — to love the home, and cherish 
everything that is precious in it for the long mem- 
ory of years. He must learn to think of the home 
as a place to which his footsteps gladly return, and 
from which they are slow to wander. And he must 
learn also that the lessons of the home, however 
simple they may seem as he grows wiser in his own 
knowledge, are not to be despised, but are to be 
carried out into life and built into its foundations 
and its superstructure. It is a foolish man indeed 
who despises the instruction of his youth. To 
thoughtful men it seems a wonderful thing that the 
simple lessons taught at the throne of a mother's 
knee have so often proved sufficient for the great 
things of life. 

All this goes to show the importance of the time 
when " the mind is wax to receive and marble to 
retain." A seed dropped into the quick soil of a 
youthful mind — who shall say to what it may 
grow ? 



82 MARCH TWENTY-TWO 

letting tfte Copp 

" Thou shalt write them upon the door=posts of thy house, 
and upon thy gates." 

Deuteronomy 6:9. 

IN France in the Imperial Library is preserved 
a copy-book of Louis XIV, in which the young 
despot wrote six times on one page, " Hom- 
age belongs to kings : they may do whatsoever it 
pleases them to do." The copy that the family 
and society in general set for children is far-reach- 
ing in its effect. The whole question of early train- 
ing — do we not see with what fine tools it must do 
its work, in order that the soul may learn values? 
The family is the most important school in which 
the human being carries on his studies. In every 
hour the child is a learner, following his copy. If 
the copy be worldly the lesson sinks unconsciously 
into his soul, and he in turn is likely to become a 
little worldling. Parental conversation in the li- 
brary, under the evening lamp, or at table, will often 
set the child's habits like cement. The " tawdri- 
ness and ugliness " of worldly things becomes an in- 
fection. The father returning in the evening with 
his increasing talk of world values, and his anxious 
fingering of finance, with never a hint of higher 
things, the mother returning to her nest with no 
message for her birdlings except the empty echoes 
of card parties, and fancy-balls, and theater groups, 
with all the petty drivel of a paltry world of fashion 
— what sad copy is this to set before youthful 
minds ! 



MARCH TWENTY-THREE 83 

^O0t anO <£>um 

"Given to hospitality." Romans 12:13. 

THE guest also has his place in the home. For 
the Bible teaches us to be given to hospital- 
ity. It reminds us. that in harboring stran- 
gers we may entertain angels unawares. The home 
has its duty toward the guest. It may give him 
memories that he will never lose, and put a fragrance 
about his heart that will never pass away. The 
friendly greeting at the threshold, the chair of com-, 
fort by the evening lamp, the fellowship of the table, 
the shelter of the room and the rest of the bed 
throughout the night, and withal a beautiful friend- 
liness and openness of hearts, without ill remark or 
captious criticism — these are the high and noble 
hospitalities that make easier the lot of the stranger. 
And the guest himself has his obligations. When 
he enters the home, it is his to say, " Peace be to this 
house," and to do all that he can throughout his 
stay to fulfill this benediction. His message in the 
home should be one of joy and helpfulness.' Let him 
not bring any division or any spoiling of the ideals 
of the home. Let him try to make the atmosphere 
better, not worse. Let him depart with gratitude 
and with kindly thought, and let him indulge in no 
captious criticism. It is a holy relation indeed be- 
tween host and guest, and we may well ask God to 
bless our hospitalities, that the blessings of our 
homes may long abide with those who have broken 
bread with us. 



84 MARCH TWENTY-FOUR 

iReltgton anO fanners 

" Be tenderly affectioned one to another." 

Romans 12:10. 

LET us remember with gratitude how Christ 
has brought light and joy into the home. 
How rich the world is in its true Christian 
homes ! A writer tells us that old Chinese hiero- 
glyphics express the idea of home by the words 
"cover " and w pig " — pig-sty. But Christ has 
taken the word home and poured new content into it. 
He has taught us more and more to love our own 
fireside, to treasure our children in the love of God, 
and to make our home, not a castle, surrounded with 
forbidding battlements, but rather a place of large 
friendliness, of tender affection, of broad sympa- 
thies, of gentle courtesies. A place, in short 

"To teach high thoughts and amiable worth 
And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 
And love of truth, and all that makes a man." 

Our Gospel is a faith that reaches into the words 
and manners of men. It is a faith to make the hus- 
band a strong man in his own household, and the 
wife a gracious reliance. It is a faith to give the 
children a true vision, and to cause them to rejoice 
with their parents. It is a faith to make the heart 
tender, and the answer of the lips soft, and the 
pressure of the hand warm, and the light of the eyes 
clear, and to take out of the soul all wintry cold, 
and make it warm in the love of God. 



MARCH TWENTY-FIVE 85 

75tiw tjbe TSook 

" And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book 
of the law." 

Nehemiah 8:1. 

BRING the Book ! It would be well to take this 
little sentence and frame it as a motto and 
hang it on the walls of the house. It would 
be well for men of affairs to have this sentence meet 
them daily as they go forth to their toil in office, 
or shop, or store, or street, for wherever men do 
their work in the world there is need to bring the 
Book. In all circumstances and conditions of life 
let us learn to bring the Book. In our sorrows, 
when the tapers of hope burn low, there is no book 
that can comfort the heart like the Bible. In times 
of uncertainty and crisis there is no book like the 
Bible to clear the mind and strengthen the purpose. 
The Bible is preeminently the book of the heart. Its 
very frankness and severity with our sins and short- 
comings make it our best friend. Daily it calls us 
to higher levels of life, opens up for us new vistas 
of thought and hope, inspires us with the great ideals 
of the Kingdom of God. Not only does it lift men 
up; it brings God down. It tells us how to apply 
the measure of Eternity to the common affairs of life. 
No wonder that a brilliant writer has said that if 
all the books of the world were going up in a bon- 
fire, he would wish to rush in and save the Bible. 



86 MARCH TWENTY-SIX 

Cfie i&ingOom ana patience 

" The tribulation and kingdom and patience which are 
in Jesus." Revelation 1:19. 

THE patience that is in Jesus ! What comfort 
it is to know that our daily practice of pa- 
tience, our endurance of trial, our steadfast- 
ness in Christian service, links us to " the tribula- 
tion and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus." 
Robert Louis Stevenson once declared that no man 
ever knows the heavens until he has slept in the beau- 
tiful starlight — " a la belle etoile." Let the fine 
starlight of the patience of Christ shine down into 
all our places of trial. Let us enlarge our idea of 
patience. It is no mere good fortune of tempera- 
ment, although one may well be thankful who is born 
with the gift of patience. It is no mere accident 
of comfortable circumstances, no mushroom growth 
of the moonlight of an easy life. Rather it is the 
strength that comes with the kingdom into the heart, 
the fixity and purpose that are born of a great love, 
the loyalty and steadfastness that grow with faith in 
the soul. 

" The kingdom and patience which are in Jesus ! " 
He has done a work that will never wear out. Time 
cannot spoil it. " The same yesterday and to-day, 
yea, and forever." If we link our destinies with him, 
we belong to a Kingdom that will not pass away, a 
Kingdom that breeds patience in the soul. The pa- 
tience of Jesus is enough to give us the courage of a 
thousand battlefields. 



MARCH TWENTY-SEVEN 87 

©pen COmOotos 

" Prove me now ... if I will not open you the windows 
of heaven." Malachi 3:10. 

OH, it makes the heart leap and the pulses beat 
fast to hear this word of our God. It is the 
full challenge of God to our faith. He is 
telling us how willing He is, and bidding us test His 
willingness. More expressive language could not be 
used. " I will open the windows " — fling them 
wide! No stinting, no withholding, no grudging. 
" I will pour you out a blessing." Not thimbles full, 
not buckets full, but poured-out floods. " Not room 
enough to receive it." Extravagant language, you 
say. But that is how anxious God is to have us 
understand. He would awaken our minds with this 
— " not room enough." God's stored-up blessings 
are so great that these shut-up lives of ours do not 
furnish room enough. O God, enlarge my heart! 
Make room for thy blessings here ! God is speak- 
ing here out of the fullness of his loving heart. If 
your heart is unwilling and your mood without ten- 
derness, all this will pass over your head. But if 
your heart is hungry within you, if you realize your 
need — then you will understand the greatness of 
this promise, and your soul will rejoice. Say it 
over again and be glad every day. " Open win- 
dows ! Open windows ! " 



88 MARCH TWENTY-EIGHT 

1^10 jface 

" The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 

II Corinthians 4:6. 

THE New Testament pauses nowhere to give an 
exact description of our Lord's appearance. 
Yet it gives us many scenes and incidents 
where we seem truly to see his face. Put yourself in 
the place of the Samaritan woman at the well, hear- 
ing those heart-searching words about thirst and the 
water of life. Or think of Mary, sitting at his feet 
and learning the better part of life which none could 
take away. Think of the young man who came to 
see Jesus, and of how the Master looked upon him 
and loved him. What must his face have betokened 
in that moment of the discovery of a soul? The 
erring disciple who had denied his Lord, standing 
without in the court, saw his Master looking at him, 
and the look opened instantly the fountain of his 
tears. It was not rebuke that did this, but sym- 
pathy. How must he have looked when the disciples 
wanted to send the multitude away, or when he found 
the money-changers in the Temple, or when the dis- 
ciples clamored for first place? How must his face 
have beamed upon the widow with her mites, upon 
Mary with her broken alabaster box, upon the moth- 
ers bringing their babes to him to bless them, upon 
the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda, upon the 
man let down through the roof, upon Nicodemus 
coming to see him in the nighttime, upon Lazarus 
rising from the tomb? 



MARCH TWENTY-NINE 89 

<5ptf0 plan 

"To them that love God all things work together for 
good." Romans 8:28, 

WE are so forward, so quick, so impatient. 
We cannot wait upon the issue. " Chil- 
dren and fools should never see anything 
until it is done." But grown souls, believing souls, 
should be willing to trust and wait. Let us believe 
that God is working on and out toward greater com- 
pletions. " All things work together ! " Then 
there is a plan. Life is not a haphazard, a hodge- 
podge of happenings. There is One who stands 
within the shadow, " keeping watch above his own." 
What if sorrow comes and leaves its black mark upon 
the soul? What if the sharpness of loss enters the 
soul? What if life's plans lie upon the earth like a 
broken vase? These are the hours when we need to 
trust — trust the wiser Mind, the deeper Love, the 
larger Plan. 

" All things work together." Our trouble is that 
we do not see the hidden connections, we do not real- 
ize the deeper relations, we do not comprehend the 
" working together." God's plan does not emerge 
fully on the moment. We can well afford to trust 
him — " he will bring it to pass." " It is God that 
worketh in you " — can you not believe that he is 
working "for good"? And let us be thankful for 
the sweep and comprehension of this truth. " All 
things," — that is very broad, very sweeping, very 
inclusive. The full issue will not come now. 
Greater revealings await us beyond. 






90 MARCH THIRTY 

CI>ri0t'0 Completions 

" And in him ye are made full (complete)." 

Colossians 2:10. 

THIS is how wonderful a thing it is to be a 
Christian. This is the charter of our priv- 
ileges and rights. This is the continent of 
opportunity to which we are admitted. The full- 
ness of God in Christ ! How incomplete we are ! It 
is a weak faith, or a fragile will. It is an untrained 
imagination, or an undisciplined temper. It is an 
untrustworthy affection, or a broken loyalty. It is 
an unsteady purpose, or a fading vision. What a 
thing of fragments and patches human life must 
seem in the white light from above. How many gaps 
and chasms there are, how many broken links and 
empty places ! What a revelation this is then — 
Ye are complete in him — made full in Christ! He 
can make " God's greatness flow around our incom- 
pleteness/' Around our sin pardon flows. Around 
our failures sympathy flows. Around our meager- 
ness abundance flows. " I am come that ye might 
have life, and that ye might have it more abund- 
antly" Christ is prepared to take our broken, shal- 
low, unfilled lives, and fill them to overflowing. 

" O Christ, he is the fountain, 
The deep, sweet well of love.'* 

The hymn-writer could have used another word, 
" The deep, sweet well of life! " Here then is such 
an unfolding of the Christian life as fills the mind 
with " wonder, love and praise." 






MARCH THIRTY-ONE 91 

<©o0's §)l)are jffm 

" But make me thereof a little cake first." 

I Kings 17:13. 

ELIJAH'S method with the widow of Zarephath 
was to provide God's share in the beginning. 
" Make me a little cake first." And this not- 
withstanding the fact that there was only " a hand- 
ful of meal in a barrel," and " a little oil in a cruse." 
God calls for ventures of faith. But there is really 
no risk at all, for God's purpose is far-reaching. 
" The barrel of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse 
of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain 
upon the earth." Trust God with the first things, 
and he will repay in the later things. 

The first ten cents of the dollar, the freshest por- 
tion of the time, the richest product of the talent — 
risk these with God, even if dollars are few and time 
and talent are needed elsewhere. Provide God's 
share first. " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and 
his righteousness." To this a promise is attached 
— " All these things shall be added." 

God is not content with remnants ; he asks for 
early portions. An old commentator states it 
quaintly : " Those that will deal with God must deal 
upon trust. And we may all venture to do so, for 
though they may have been losers for him, never any 
were losers by him in the end." Whosoever trusts 
God in the first things shall find all the way paved 
with blessings. " Make me a little cake first." 



92 APRIL ONE 

3 ISeauttfui MJorld 

" Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." 

Matthew 6:28. 



rp 



4 6 r 1 ^HE year's at the spring." And how good 
it is to walk about in our Father's world in 
days like these. It is a bright new era of 
time. Life is very sweet and gracious and the world 
opens its doors to us again and invites us to go out 
and in with glad steps. The old miracle has come 
once more. The earth is all green and soft and 
tender again. The world is not old but new now. 
A little while ago in the midst of my cares I was 
tired and worn. My task seemed heavy to me. But 
to-day it is a new world, and my weariness has 
passed away. Hear the birds sing! 

" The lark's on the wing." 

" Consider the lilies of the field ! " All ye busy, 
practical, wornout men, hear the call of God's beau- 
tiful world. Walk about in the spring-time. Every 
violet and spring-beauty and wake-robin and sprig 
of arbutus and every gorgeous lily of the field is 
piping up in the chorus — " How they grow ! how 
they grow I " " They toil not, neither do they spin." 
Yet look at their more than royal habiliments t 
" Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little 
faith ? " In days like these let us walk about in our 
Father's world, and feel more deeply than before 
" the sensitiveness of the heart toward God." 



APRIL TWO 93 

potoer from on ^igfi 

" Tarry ye . . . until ye be clothed with power from 
on high." Luke 24:49. 

POWER from on High is required to accomplish 
the deep things that the world stands in need 
of. We can change the manners of men by 
training, but we cannot regenerate men. We can 
often persuade men to give up their sinful habits, 
but we cannot purge men of their sins. We can 
help men to pick up the broken pieces of their lives 
and put them together, but we cannot make them 
whole. We can make things looks better, we can ac- 
complish reform, but we cannot create new lives. 
For all these deep needs of the world there must be 
power from on High. You wonder that Jesus said, 
" Tarry for it ! " We must tarry because God 
must know that we are anxious for it. We must 
tarry for it because it comes to the waiting soul, the 
receptive heart. If we understand this " Tarry 
ye," we have found a great secret. The power is 
ready. Are we ready? Are we waiting for it? 
Are we longing for it? Are we asking for it? This 
is what it means to tarry. How noiselessly yet how 
surely the Power comes. There is a new pressure of 
the hand, a new light in the eye, a new tenderness 
in the voice, a deeper feeling in the heart. Worship 
is sweeter. Prayer is a truer experience. Com- 
munion is a more tender reality. The tasks of the 
Kingdom are easier. 



94 APRIL THREE 

Cfte iftisen Life 

" If then ye were raised together with Christ." 

Colossians 3:1. 

WHAT are the characteristics and assets of 
the Risen Life? The Risen Life is an up- 
ward tending life. " Seek the things that 
are above." The resurrection gives life a new stamp, 
a new definition, a new direction. Christ's open tomb 
means for us that life has a new era, a new pathway, 
a new existence set before it. We are children now 
of a glorious liberty. Therefore seek those things 
that are above. We are like Wordsworth's lark, 
that nested on the earth, but had the freedom of the 
upper air. Life has room since Christ arose — 
room above. The Risen Life is a life that has its 
greater values above. " Set your affection on things 
above, not on things on the earth." Not only seek 
the things that are above, but set your mind on 
them — value them. Follow with your heart the di- 
rection which Christ has given your life by His resur- 
rection and His ascension. Throw out the roots of 
your life above. Do you see what this means? It 
means that we are to be deep-rooted in the things of 
God. Oh, the rich assets of a life that is deep- 
rooted in the " unsearchable riches of Christ." Is 
there anything more about the Risen Life? Yes, 
there is this — and it is a very great thing — " Your 
life is hid with Christ in God." 






APRIL FOUR 95 

Cfce pioneer 

** He went out, not knowing whither he went." 

Hebrews 11:8. 

LET us thank God for the rude plow and the 
woodman's ax and the flatboat on the river, 
for the spinning-wheel and the loom, and the 
log cabin in the clearing, and the plain school-house 
at the cross-roads, and the white church with the 
green blinds on the hillside — for such as these were 
the simple tools with which our forefathers did their 
enduring work. Nature's wealth had to be wrung 
from the soil, from the forests, from the rivers, from 
the mines. The nation was not built by aristocrats, 
but by toilers, men of the soil, men of the wilderness 
trail. The first chapters in our nation's history 
are chapters of pioneer struggle. Men who were 
" broad-backed and brown-handed, with empires in 
their brains," wrought with ax and plow and 
rifle, and most of all with the vision of their own 
hearts, to win a continent and to make it blossom 
like the rose. Simplicity was the order of the day. 
We have reason to thank God that our fathers and 
mothers for the most part were men and women of 
common life. 

" The common growth of mother earthy 
Her simplest mirth and tears." 

Very deep indeed is our indebtedness to the sturdy 
men and strong women whose lives were lived in the 
hand-to-hand struggle of pioneer life. 



96 APRIL FIVE 

fyau JFattft 

" And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in 
Gad." Mark 11:22. 

WHEN the disciples were perplexed about the 
withered fig-tree, the Master said to them 
— " Have faith in God." For all our per- 
plexities his counsel is still the same. " Have faith 
in God " when the way is dark. There is not a 
hard place, not a pitfall, that he does not know 
about, and he knows our strength and our weakness 
altogether. We are traveling no untrod pathway, 
for our Lord has gone before. " Have faith in 
God " when great sorrows come. Our Lord has a 
special concern for those who pass through deep 
waters. " I will be with thee." He will not leave 
us alone or comfortless. He will send the Com- 
forter. When the need is very great, God is very 
near. " God is our refuge and strength, a present 
help in time of trouble." When the heart is sore, 
he would have us lean hard upon him. " Have faith 
in God " in the hour of great change and crisis. 
Such times come in almost every life. Old things 
pass away, and new times and new conditions take 
their place. The foundations are shaken; the plans 
of a lifetime lie shattered. In such a time remem- 
ber that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day 
and forever. Through all life's changes, " Have 
faith in God." 



APRIL SIX 97 

Demas 

" Demas forsook me, having loved this present world." 

II Timothy 4:10. 

THERE are certain names in Holy Scripture 
that stand out in melancholy and startling 
prominence, pointing the moral of an oft-re- 
peated tale. They are names of men who were rec- 
reant to their trust. They were called to high 
privilege, but they fell from their high estate. In 
the Old Testament we remember Esau, who sold his 
birthright for a mess of pottage, and Samson who 
lost his inner light, and Saul who sinned against the 
higher knowledge, and Absalom who followed the 
lure of ambition to his ruin. In the New Testament 
we remember Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the 
Holy Spirit, and Felix who was terrified but re- 
pented not, and Agrippa who was almost persuaded, 
and Gallio who " cared for none of these things," 
and Judas who sold his Master for thirty pieces of 
silver. And there is also Demas, of whom Paul 
wrote, " Demas forsook me, having loved this present 
world." To him apparently was given a large op- 
portunity in the Gospel, and an exalted privilege. 
But Demas was not faithful to his trust. The love 
of this present world possessed him as a passion and 
he turned his back upon the apostle in his time of 
need. It is a sorrowful record to make of a man, 
" Demas forsook me." To forsake a noble cause 
and a true friend is one of the direst tragedies of 
life. 



98 APRIL SEVEN 

Cfte aiJot&erljooD of <SoD 

" Ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled 
upon the knees." Isaiah 66:12. 

BECAUSE God is " as one whom his mother 
comforteth," he will do this for his children. 
What a picture this is of divine affection and 
solicitude. The prophet could not state it in terms 
of fatherhood, so he states it in terms of mother- 
hood. The mother's strength is very wonderful. 
" Ye shall be borne upon the side." Generation 
after generation the world has wondered at the en- 
durance of its mothers. It is the endurance of love. 
How often have we seen a mother at the point of 
fainting yet still holding her child in her embrace. 
God's heart is like this toward his children. It is 
strength and tenderness mingled. He bears us in 
strong arms, and " upon the side " where love is in 
the heart. Mother .love is more than protective too, 
it is solicitous of the child's joy. The sweetest of 
all arts are the engaging arts of motherhood, where- 
with she employs and fascinates the mind of her child 
with human delight. See her dandling the child tire- 
lessly upon her knees solely for the glee and glad- 
ness of her offspring. And God gives us thus many 
pure j oys and delights in life. " Ye shall be dan- 
dled upon the knees," like a mother comforting her 
child. " Thy comforts delight my soul." 



APRIL EIGHT 



99 



3fttcompletiott0 



" When that which is perfect is come, that which is in 
part shall be done away." 

I Corinthians 13:10. 

NOTHING seems complete here. Our vision is 
" in a mirror darkly." Our knowledge is 
" in part." We can only prophesy " in part." 
The world's philosophy is not cheerful about this. It 
says, " Look at the incompletions of life. Behold 
the unfinished tasks. Mark how many lives stop 
in the midst." But when we open the Word of 
God we find a different philosophy. It is true that 
life is in part now, but it may be moving toward the 
perfect. There is even a " glory of the imperfect," 
for the imperfect fills the heart with longings and 
prophecies of the perfect. To-day's failure, should 
it not inspire us for to-morrow's success? Every 
one of life's incompletions is an appeal for better 
things. The image of the perfect is beckoning to 
us out of the midst of the imperfect. When the 
archaeologist found in the ruins of an ancient city 
a broken column of strange beauty, he asked him- 
self the question — " Would not so skillful a sculp- 
tor have crowned the column with even a more won- 
derful capital?" Digging again in the ruins he 
found the missing capital. " It doth not yet ap- 
pear, but we know " that life hath a crowning day 
in Christ. Perhaps it is not so important that 
life should be perfect as it is that life should be 
moving toward the crowning day. 



100 APRIL NINE 

Cfie ©ID IBell 

'• Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the 
custom of some is." 

Hebrews 10:25. 

LISTEN! I know the sound among ten thou- 
sand. It is the old bell in the village church. 
I have heard many church bells in my time, in 
cities and towns and country places, ringing from 
high cathedral belfries, and minster towers, and from 
more lowly sanctuaries, but none so sweet as the 
old bell. Often in the years that have gone by I 
have paused to listen, and although long distances 
intervened, I have never failed to hear it ringing in 
my heart. Time has not quenched, nor distance 
dimmed, its music. Memory awakes at its sound, 
and emotion is deeply stirred. Scenes long past 
float again before my mind. It is the Sabbath morn, 
and I see the people passing along the streets on the 
way to the white church. Soon we are in our places, 
and the old minister walks down the aisle and 
ascends the pulpit. His discourse is plain, but in- 
forming, and constructive of life and character. 
The roots of my life are there. The ideals of youth 
were inspired under the sound of the old church bell. 
Long since I left those scenes of childhood's hours. 
But I have never gone beyond the spell of that magic 
bell. It summons me still to climb the heights of 
life, and one day, I verily believe, I shall hear its 
music mingling with the music of the skies. 



APRIL TEN 101 

§>implicitp 

" The simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ." 

II Corinthians 11:3. 

ET us live simply and cherish simple ways and 
j thoughts. Let us keep the simplicity of the 
home, magnifying such domestic virtues as 
love and trust and kindly disposition. Let us keep 
the simplicity of friendship, refusing to permit it 
to be clouded by sophistication and artificiality, or 
to be debased by mere pleasantry and compliment, 
or to be easily overturned by advance winds of criti- 
cism and rumor. Let us practise the great sim- 
plicities among our fellow-men — such as* rugged 
honor and honesty, and the old-fashioned virtues of 
industry, economy, and personal purity, and a rigid 
sense of righteousness in private and public affairs. 
Let us keep the simplicity of religion, that nothing 
may cloud the fact of God over us and in us, that 
reverence such as unspoiled children have for their 
parents may fill our hearts, that prayer may go out 
naturally and freely to the Heavenly Father, and 
that the love and discipleship of Jesus may voice the 
loyal attachment of twice-born men and women. 
Let us prize the simple virtues and homely piety of 
those who have grown spiritual under the touch 
of the Spirit. Jesus had time to think of God, 
and time also to think of lilies and birds. He 
taught men not to despise the world, but to live 
spiritually and simply in the world, and to value 
a gentle spirit, with simple speech, and sincere feel- 
ings. 






102 APRIL ELEVEN 

a J0eto ftOorld 

" Behold, I make all things new." 

Revelation 21:5. 

THE world is old, but Christ is making it new. 
There are so many who forget this. The 
theologian talks about this sin-cursed world. 
The man of many affairs talks about this weary world. 
The pessimist talks about this worn-out world. But 
Jesus Christ talks of birds singing and flowers 
blooming and souls living a true life. This is the 
difference between our Master and other masters. 
He knew all about the curse; nevertheless he knew 
that there was a Way. He was not dumb to the 
confused and jangling voices of sin and sorrow and 
pain. Nevertheless he knew that there was a 
Father of Lights. He knew that oftentimes the 
world seems to men old and worn and troubled, but 
he knew in reality that the world is young. You do 
not find Jesus Christ talking about things growing 
old. You find him thinking and speaking of things 
growing young again. Friend, you have been dwell- 
ing too much upon your problems. You have not 
followed your Master in his glad way of sacrifice 
and service. It is so that the world has grown old 
to you. If you are weary of men and affairs, if the 
face of humanity looks haggard and the problems 
are darker each day — " Come away with me," says 
Jesus, " and I will make all things new for you." 



APRIL TWELVE 103 

iQeto Jtigftt 

" Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous 
things out of thy law." 

Psalms 119:18. 

IT is noticeable that the great souls who have left 
their spiritual messages for us in the Bible are 
not in despair about knowing the truth. The 
Psalmist's cry is — " Open thou mine eyes, that I 
may behold wondrous things." The apostle Paul 
echoes the cry — " Having the eyes of your heart 
enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of 
his calling." Often the opening of eyes comes sud- 
denly and leaves a grateful memory. It is like the 
opening of a window-blind — when the room is 
flooded with light. Luther tells his experience with 
one of the cardinal doctrines. He was listening to 
a fellow-monk reciting the creed — " I believe in the 
forgiveness of sins." Suddenly the great truth 
flashed out before him in a new light. " It was as if 
I had found the door of Paradise thrown wide open." 
Our danger is that truth may become familiar and 
humdrum. Because we look into the face of truth 
every day, it grows commonplace and ordinary. 
We need the opening of eyes to see " wondrous 
things." Eye hath not seen nor ear heard " the 
things prepared." It is a good day when we look 
again at an old truth and cry out in j oy, " I never 
saw it before in that light." 



N' 



104 APRIL THIRTEEN 

fyt Is able 

" Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly 
above all that we ask or think." 

Ephesians 3:20. 

< <T^ TOW unto him that is able ! " Such a One 
is our God. " Unto him be the glory in the 
church and in Christ Jesus ! " To God in 
Christ we owe everything. Let all the redeemed 
church say so ! What is he not able to do ? When 
we have fixed our expectations as to what he can do, 
then we are suddenly aware that God's power 
sweeps far away and beyond us, and that he is " able 
to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask 
or think." Let the Christian take this thought and 
live by it for an hour, a day, a month, a year — live 
by it always. So many of us have narrow and 
shrunken ideas of God and of the gospel of his Son. 
Let us pray for enlargement of heart and vision. 
He who has wrought in me to give me a full salva- 
tion in Christ, what can he not do for me? " Now 
unto him that is able ! " There should be no lame- 
ness of faith in us, because there is no weakness in 
God. If there be spiritual mysteries before which 
we must be silent, there are also spiritual facts be- 
fore which we must be eloquent. He is able! Re- 
joice with joy unspeakable in this glorious fact. 
Launch out into the deeps of God's ability. 









APRIL FOURTEEN 105 

Smelling Clotoer 

" I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be 
content." Philippians 4:11. 

IN one of George MacDonald's books there is 
a cobbler who lived in a wretched cot not far 
from a tannery, whence came many foul 
smells. Yet the old man philosophized thus — " It's 
no ill smell to them 'ats used 'til 't, and ye can hardly 
believe me, sir, but I smell the clover throuw 5 t." 
Ah! noble old philosopher at the cobbler's bench, 
thou art wiser than many who are wrapped in silks 
and pampered with ambrosia. " To smell the clover 
through it " — this is the real science and art of 
living wisely and well. Never is everything ugliness 
and foul smells and blackness of darkness. There 
is some touch of beauty, some fragrance of clover, 
some glint of light — somewhere ! 

" The world is so full of a number of things, 
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." 

Look for good things ! — they are very plentiful. 
They who expect the disagreeable are seldom disap- 
pointed. Contentment is not weak submission to 
things as they are. There is indeed a noble discon- 
tent of the soul that demands that things shall be 
better. But contentment is that healthy state of 
mind wherein " whatsoever state " is bearable be- 
cause there is more behind the scenes than at first 
appears. Contented people are really the strongest. 






106 APRIL FIFTEEN 

i^ealt!) anO ©pen OJittDoto0 

" Now his windows were open in his chamber toward 
Jerusalem." Daniel 6:10. 

OPEN windows will some day conquer the 
white plague. But are there not other dis- 
eases and troubles that would yield to open 
windows? Indifference, for example. One needs 
the open windows of interest for this. And despair 
— what better than the open windows of hope for 
this trouble ? And suspicion — the open windows 
of sympathy will tend to cure this. And unbelief — 
the open windows of faith are the antidote for this. 
And all the ills and troubles and difficulties and dis- 
appointments of daily life — what could be better 
than the open windows of prayer? Keep your win- 
dows open ! It means mental health, for each man's 
mind needs the benefit of other men's judgments and 
feelings. Prejudices come by keeping the windows 
and doors of the mind shut. It is the shut-up minds 
that make trouble in society. What, for instance, 
does the stubborn man of our community need so 
much as to fling the windows of his mind wide open? 
Tell me that a man's attitude is open and I know 
what this means. It means one who has fresh and 
original sympathies with humanity. Open windows 
mean moral health also. Each soul needs the light 
and air of truth to keep it sweet and to keep it 
true. Are your windows open to the truth? Are 
your windows open to God? 



APRIL SIXTEEN 107 

Coming Dotam 

" On the next day when they were come down from the 
mountain, a great multitude met him." 

Luke 9:37* 

THE disciples were fascinated with the moun- 
tain. They wanted to build tabernacles and 
stay always amid the transfiguration glory. 
It was all ecstasy and freedom of soul there. Glory 
was very near and very real. " Lord, let us stay in 
the mount." It is the heart's craving always. We 
want to remain in the midst of our mountain-top 
experiences. We would fain keep our great moments 
always with us. We would live all the days in the 
enjoyment of the soul's uplift. Our profound emo- 
tions charm us, our great experiences exhilarate us. 
How often we have desired to stay in the mountain- 
top of some singular and soul-baptizing hour. But 
we cannot stay on the Mount of Transfiguration any 
more than the disciples could. On the next day 
" they must needs come down from the mountain." 
Human need and sorrow awaited them at the foot of 
the mountain. The multitude was down, not up — 
the multitude with all its clamor and its pressure. 
If God gives any great experience we must always 
come down afterwards to the multitude. But we 
can bring the value of the experience with us. We 
can bless the multitude with power and grace ob- 
tained in the mountain. We can come down with 
shining faces and lighten men's lives with mountain 
light. 



108 APRIL SEVENTEEN 

Coo e&utb baggage 

" A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the 
things which he possesseth." 

Luke 12:15. 

THE world's trouble now is that it has so much 
to live upon, not so little. Old Horace tells 
us that it is pleasant to fill your small basket 
from a large heap — you know there is plenty. 
The danger is that we may fall to thinking that life 
consists in the large heap. The reign of plainness 
and simplicity has well nigh gone out of the land. 
The abundance of things has increased immensely. 
We do not quite say. it, but we are tempted to think 
that happiness depends upon furniture. We clut- 
ter up our lives with things to such an extent that 
our souls must almost gasp for breath. In such a 
time we need more than ever to listen to Jesus Christ 
who is the Master of Simplicity. A man's life does 
not consist in the abundance of things. Man has a 
soul to feed and to keep for eternity. If you are 
going to California do not load yourself down with 
hand-baggage. You will need time to look at the 
flowers. But listen to the Master — if j^ou are 
traveling to the Land of Far Distances, do not en- 
cumber yourself with baggage. Things weigh us 
down — feet grow heav}', shoulders become weary, 
full pockets are weighty. Do not " spend more on 
the frame than on the picture." 



APRIL EIGHTEEN 109 

Cftree anchors anO tije Jfouttf) 

** They let go four anchors from the stern, and wished 
for the day." Acts 27:29. 

OFTEN there is nothing else to do but to cast 
out our anchors and wait quietly for the 
dawn. Blessed be God there is no night so 
dark and no storm so heavy as to deprive us of 
the use of our anchors. Danger may be on all sides, 
but meantime, if we let down the anchors, we can 
hold fast. 

The apostle Paul tells us in one place what three 
of life's anchors are. They are faith, hope and 
love, and it is significant that he says that they 
abide. Faith is a mighty anchor, yet easily handled 
withal. One who has let go this anchor can breast 
the storm and say, " My heart is fixed." Hope also 
is a mighty anchor. There are times indeed when 
this anchor holds after faith has given way. Then 
indeed " we are saved by hope." But it is easy to 
see why the apostle calls love " the greatest of 
these." When the pull on faith's anchor has be- 
come too great, and when even hope's anchor is ready 
to loosen, the anchor of love often holds fast, bear- 
ing all the extra strain until the storm breaks and 
the day dawns. And what of the fourth anchor? 
The answer is in the margin, which reads " they 
prayed for the day." 



110 APRIL NINETEEN 

Cfte Long JRoaD 

" God led them not by the way of the land of the Philis= 
tines, although that was near." 

Exodus 13 117. 

IT is often true that the longest way round is 
the nearest way home. Israel was on the way 
to the Promised Land, but God led them not 
by the nearest road. " The way of the wilderness 
by the Red Sea " was much longer, nevertheless it 
was better. It was a time of testing. It was a time 
of preparation. It was a time of spiritual develop- 
ment. There is nothing like the discipline of the 
long route. Mushrooms come up over night: it 
takes time to grow a solid oak. " No man stumbles 
into success." Neither is there any royal road to 
learning. There are plenty of cuts across corners 
that one can make in life, in education, in business, 
in politics, in religion. Short cuts fascinate the 
mind, near routes look alluringly easy. But there 
is really no short cut to any promised land. There 
must be time and opportunity for lessons by the 
way. Easy ways lose the benefits of hardship and 
discipline. The " Hill Difficulty " has its advan- 
tages. It was a credit to Macbeth that he resisted 
for a time Lady Macbeth's taunt that he was " afraid 
to catch the nearest way to power." God often 
leads us by the long way of personal loss and suffer- 
ing. Perchance it is the nearest road to character 
and to God! 



APRIL TWENTY 111 

ges, Cftere 30 i&ealttp 

" And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the 
thirsty ground springs of water." 

Isaiah 35-7' 

THE prophet's message is for those who are 
in despair about life. After all life is full 
of illusions — there is no reality, no back- 
ground of certainty. " Vanity of vanities ; all is 
vanity." We are like travelers in the desert, weary 
and footsore and parched with thirst; we rush 
tumultuously after the pleasant places only to find 
that they are but parched and glowing sand. The 
old pathetic cry of the desert is heard over and 
over again, " It is the mirage ! " 

But this is not the way the Word of God talks 
to men. Here is a chapter for example that is a 
tonic song for our desert pilgrimage. " The wil- 
derness and the dry land shall be glad." " The 
desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." 
Then " the glowing sand " — the mirage — " shall be- 
come a pool." Yes, there is reality. When 
Christ's reign is complete in the heart, the thirsty 
places shall become real springs of water. If I 
could tell you what Christ has done to make life real 
for me, it would be the best comment I could offer 
on the text. He has revealed life's deeper meanings 
to me, and led me to the true sources. 

14 The Living Fountain dwells in Him, 
No desert-phantom, far and dim." 



112 APRIL TWENTY-ONE 

C&e OSes of Sleeplessness 

" And the angel that talked with me came again and 
waked me." Zechariah 4:1. 

LET us try the art of getting good out of 
trouble. Sleeplessness, for example. Let us 
believe that it is an angel that wakens us and 
let us look for the vision. Who shall say but that 
God may give us something worth knowing in the 
" night watches," when sleep leaves the pillow? Was 
it not a sleepless night that brought about the recog- 
nition by the king of Mordecai's merit? It was 
shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night 
who heard the song that has never died out of the 
heart. How many of David's sweet songs must have 
come out of wakeful nights. " When I remember 
thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night- 
watches." Cease thinking of the evils of sleepless- 
ness, and think of its uses. " Think not the king 
did banish thee, but thou the king." Are we not too 
easy victims of our troubles? Make better of them 
— make the best of them. Perhaps the angel wakens 
me to brood in silence upon the world, upon life, upon 
destiny, upon immortality, upon God and the gospel 
of his Son. 6i It is in silence we hear the voice of 
truth." Verily " in the night his song shall be with 
me." There is so little perfect attention in the 
world. Perhaps the angel is saying, " Listen ! " 
" Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and 
be still." 



APRIL TWENTY-TWO 113 



3t Wins 3[esus! 

" She supposing him to be the gardener. 

John 



20:15, 



IT was Mary's own dear Lord and Master, but she 
knew him not. It was early morning, and the 
light was dim. She was not looking for Jesus ; 
she was distracted and misled by the empty tomb. 
There were tears in her eyes. Perhaps his common- 
place appearance deceived her. 

How often the words of John the Baptist are true 
of us — " In the midst of you standeth one whom ye 
know not." The Lord is so near to us at times that 
we could almost put forth a hand and touch him. 
" Nearer than hands and feet, closer than breathing." 
He is often near to us in the guise of the common- 
place — he is like the gardener ! What did the artist 
of an early century mean when he painted his picture 
of Christ on the resurrection morn walking away 
from the sepulcher with a. -mattock on his shoulders? 
No doubt he was trying to say to us on his canvas 
what is deeply true in life, that Christ is very inti- 
mate with our common toil and our every-day pain 
and sorrow. He who died and rose again has sancti- 
fied our life, our rough toil, our sharp sorrows, our 
overwhelming difficulties. If we have gone down into 
the tomb of sorrow let us come forth again, our mat- 
tocks on our shoulders. Let us take up our work 
again. Our Lord is near! 



114 APRIL TWENTY-THREE 

Put atoap Dou6t0 

" Are these things so? " Acts 7:1. 

THERE is the testimony of fathers and mothers. 
" These all died in faith." There is a " cloud 
of witnesses " in the soul's sky. The heart 
thrills when it says, " My fathers' God ! " There is 
the testimony of the soul's altars. We are like the 
patriarchs of old — always building altars. Why? 
Because the heart has a deep sense of God. Man is 
incurably religious ! At some moment of his life each 
man prays. A group of eminent men opened their 
hearts to one another. Nearly all of them confessed 
that they still offered the prayer of childhood at 
night — " Now I lay me down to sleep." There is 
the testimony of the heart's deep needs. " The heart 
knoweth its own bitterness." A strong battle is 
going forward down here in the soul, and the soul 
needs succor to prevent defeat. There is the testi- 
mony of Christ and his gospel. " I know him whom 
I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able 
to guard that which I have committed unto him." 
There is the testimony of the soul's instinct and 
yearning for immortality. We are children of a 
great to-morrow. " It is not yet made manifest 
what we shall be." There is the testimony of the 
Spirit, who " beareth witness with our spirit." With 
" the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," how can 
we doubt? 



APRIL TWENTY-FOUR 115 

Cfte priest J)ooO of Companion 

" Who can bear gently with the ignorant and erring." 

Hebrews 5:2. 

THE old version reads — " who can have com- 
passion." The writer of Hebrews is describ- 
ing the qualifications of a High Priest. He 
must not be lacking in compassion. Are not all be- 
lievers kings and priests unto God? And is there 
not a priesthood of compassion that belongs to all 
of us ? To " bear gently " with the weak — weak in 
knowledge and weak in purpose — is Christlike, for 
Christ had compassion on the multitude, " because 
they were as sheep not having a shepherd." The 
exercise of compassion is not so simple as it seems. 
The High Priest of the Old Testament bore the 
names of the tribes in two places. He bore them on 
the breast-plate upon his bosom. Even so he who 
would exercise the priesthood of compassion must 
have a tender heart of sympathy. The High Priest 
also bore the names of Israel on the onyx stones which 
clasped the two parts of the ephod over his shoulders. 
To be truly compassionate one must be ready to offer 
his shoulders for support as well as his heart for sym- 
pathy. " Even if a man be overtaken in any tres- 
pass," restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. 
But compassion that calls for restoration is hard 
work. It means putting one's shoulder to the bur- 
den. " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so ful- 
fill the law of Christ." 






116 APRIL TWENTY-FIVE 

Cfie Perils of dBase 

"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion." Amos 6:1. 

WE have reason to be grateful for hardship, 
and even for drudgery. There are few 
things that dwarf the soul so much as too 
great ease. Luxury has more than once been the 
downfall of nations. When men grow " rich and 
increased with goods," they are apt to think that 
they have " need of nothing." They settle down in 
their easy complacency into a proud self-satisfaction 
that saps the roots of character. Luxury means 
relaxation. That is, the nerve of endeavor is 
loosened, the appeal of difficulty is lost, the stiffen- 
ing power of resistance is missed. Men need for 
their physical and mental health to have hard 
thoughts and difficult tasks. Make their life too 
easy, and they come upon insidious perils. God was 
wise when he sent his people into a Promised Land 
that had to be conquered. Things are not worth 
while that come too easily. A young man who steps 
into his father's financial shoes without effort of his 
own is in grave danger. We need the discipline of 
difficulty. Royal roads in life have many lurking 
perils. Thank God for hardship, not for ease. 
Man's spiritual welfare also requires difficulty. 
There are tens of thousands of Christians who are 
dying of spiritual luxury. Ease is dwarfing them 
and smothering them. If only they had a difficult 
task to nerve themselves to ! 



APRIL TWENTY-SIX 117 

Cfte ftQonderg of s©emorg 

"Son, remember." Luke 16:25. 

HAPPY are they who know how to make 
memory a blessing and not a plague. That 
God intended to give us many delights by 
means of memory cannot be doubted. Therefore he 
made memory a wonderful servant of our mental and 
spiritual life. The ability to remember is ever im- 
pressive. Sit down in a quiet hour and begin to 
recall faces and names of those whom you have known. 
Our memory of words, how prodigious it is. A 
famous botanist could recall promptly the names of 
something like twenty-five thousand plants. Julius 
Caesar knew the names of thousands of soldiers in 
his legions. Lord Macaulay claimed that he never 
forgot anything that he had read. It was said of a 
certain professor that if the Bible were destroyed, he 
could restore it from memory. Old thoughts come 
back again, lost things found again, vanished faces 
and silent voices restored again — are not these 
daily experiences of delight? And the law of associ- 
ation in memory — how more than wonderful. 

" Our thoughts are link'd by marly a hidden chain, 
Awake but one, and lo ! what myriads rise ! " 

" Nothing now is left," wrote Longfellow in his 
sonnet to his Three Friends, "but a majestic mem- 
ory." But our majestic memories are riches indeed 
to the soul. 



118 APRIL TWENTY-SEVEN 

" Lest Wit ©roto ll)arD " 

"Keep thy heart with all diligence." Proverbs 4:23. 

A WISE person addressed a treatise to nurses 
with this title — " Lest we grow hard." 
For the danger of all professional work is 
that it may lapse into mere skill and routine. All 
workers in whatsoever sphere need to guard against 
growing hard, whether with the hardness of profes- 
sionalism or the hardness of oft-repeated tasks. The 
noblest of arts and the best of skill are deeply marred 
by lack of heart. Neither physician, nurse, orator, 
preacher, nor artist can give us the truest help 
who does not keep his heart with all diligence in his 
work. We shall infallibly miss something from such 
a ministry, and we shall be aware of a certain hard- 
ness of touch that makes a callous upon the soul. 
In all our work in this world sympathy must rank 
with knowle'dge and skill, for hearts must be touched 
and souls comforted even while minds are being in- 
formed and bodies clothed and healed. Let us make 
sure that our hearts are open toward our fellow-men 
lest we grow hard in the daily contacts of life. It 
is a pitiful thing to see men and women growing 
harder as they grow older. God help us to increase 
in gentleness as the years go by, to grow older beau- 
tifully, not bitterly. 



APRIL TWENTY-EIGHT 119 

Cfte 3fop of Conversation 

" But I hope to come unto you, and to speak face to face." 

II John 12. 



T 



|HE apostle had " many things to write," but 
he " would not write them with paper and 
ink." " Rather," he said, " I hope to come 
unto you, and to speak face to face." Letter- 
writing after all is but an imperfect substitute for 
conversation. There are few j oy s in human life that 
are superior to the joy of sitting down with a friend 
to talk " face to face." There are all the advan- 
tages of personal touch and expression. The eye 
has an opportunity to do its best, and the voice may 
glow with feeling. Language becomes the vehicle of 
friendship and speaks by tone and inflection and 
delicate shadings the emotions of the heart. The 
hand even may reach forth and touch the hand or 
shoulder of one's friend, or a slight convincing ges- 
ture may suggest the attitude of the soul. In the 
warm glow of conversation the mind expands and dis- 
closes new and undiscovered depths of feeling. Un- 
expected thoughts come to their birth also, and 
awaken quick response in the receptive mood of the 
hour. The doorways of the heart open, as one friend 
sharpeneth the countenance of another, and fellow- 
ship becomes deep and real. In such hours of com- 
munion the worth of souls grows rich and full, and 
life gains a wider horizon, and deep in the heart there 
comes a joyous consciousness of a Third Companion. 



120 APRIL TWENTY-NINE 

pastp JLitoes 

" Ephraim is a cake not turned." Hosea 7:8. 

BAKED on one side, dough on the other. A 
mixture of hard and soft, of strength and 
weakness, of edible and inedible. There are 
lives that are in this state. They have turned some 
parts of their nature to God and have been warmed 
and blessed by his grace. But other parts are mere 
dough and pastiness so far as the Kingdom of God 
is concerned. If one were to describe such lives in a 
single phrase one would wish to call them pasty li/ves. 
They are like Ephraim, " a cake not turned." We 
have seen men, for example, who have not yet turned 
their consciences to God, notwithstanding they pro- 
fess to have turned their hearts to him. The result 
is a pasty conscience, without strength, without con- 
sistency. Consciences of this sort in the Christian 
community are capable of untold harm. The Great 
Head of the Church cannot depend upon consciences 
of dough. Another example of an unbaked part — 
money. Have we not now and then seen a servant 
of God whose life was utterly weak and dough-like 
on the subject of money? The man gives his testi- 
mony clearly in the prayer-meeting, but he finds it 
hard to unlock his treasure to the poor and to the 
missions of the gospel. The money side of his life 
has never been turned to God. He is a " cake not 
turned." 



APRIL THIRTY 121 

ftOJmt tfte ftorB Desires 

" A people for his own possession, zealous of good 
works." Titus 2:14. 

GOOD works are not merely the consequence of 
the Christian life, they are the purpose of 
the Christian life, for we were " created in 
Christ Jesus for good works. 5 ' We are " his work- 
manship," and our life should vindicate the plan and 
skill of the Master- Workman. They who have be- 
lieved God should be " careful to maintain good 
works," for thus will the glory of God shine continu- 
ously among men. God desires a people who are 
" zealous of good works." The zeal of his house 
will eat them up. They cannot be passive or indif- 
ferent, like " a painted ship upon a painted ocean." 
There is strong motive power within them. God 
worketh in them to do and to will according to his 
good pleasure. He worketh in them that which is 
well pleasing in his sight. Such a people are not 
dull, neither are they listless. Their Lord's cause 
warms their hearts. They burn with a desire to be 
of use. They are ambitious for service. They 
count it all honor to be a door-keeper in the Lord's 
house. They are on fire with the passion of action. 
When God has a people of this kind, his work goes 
forward rapidly. A thousand enterprises spring to 
life. Great willingness prevails. Eagerness is man- 
ifest on every side. Then begin new building eras in 
the Kingdom. 






122 MAY ONE 

Cfte WiotW$ jfullne00 

" The earth is Jehovah's and the fullness thereof." 

Psalms 24:1. 

IN the seventeenth century a quaint and gentle 
person named Izaak Walton, a London shop- 
keeper, wrote a simple book of nature called 
" The Compleat Angler." And it may be questioned 
whether even Baxter's " Saints' Rest " or Bunyan's 
" Pilgrim's Progress " has had a larger mission to 
perform than this pleasant, quaint little book of Izaak 
Walton, which called men away from the dusty 
streets and from musty dwellings into the fields and 
woods, to the banks of streams and the companion- 
ship of birds and beasts and fishes. It is not the the- 
ologian alone who can bring us to God. We read 
Baxter and Bunyan and Luther and Calvin and we 
thank God for these mighty men of theological valor. 
They have seen God through his Word and through 
the minds and hearts of men. We need also some 
who see God in the flower, in the green field, in the 
brook and the mountain stream, in the cloud and 
meadows, in the robin and the skylark. We need 
those teachers who " dwell by the rugged pine," who 
rejoice in blossom-time, who wander joyously on the 
summer hills, and who never cease to be surprised at 
finding the wakerobin in the valley. All you indoor 
folk who are never happy unless you are poking your 
heads into musty books, who have no thrills of emo- 
tion except such as come from the clink of gold and 
silver, go out into God's world and discover its full- 
ness in the month of May. 



MAY TWO 123 

IBrotfter @aul 

" And laying his hands on him, said, Brother Saul." 

Acts 9:17. 

ANANIAS went in fear and trembling to the 
house of Judas in the street called Straight, 
where one named Saul of Tarsus, late a perse- 
cutor, was praying. He could not tell what recep- 
tion awaited him, nevertheless he entered the house 
boldly and " laying his hands on him, said, Brother 
Saul.' ? As long as he lived Paul the apostle must 
have felt the touch of Ananias' hands upon him, and 
remembered the tone of his voice calling him 
" Brother Saul." The Master had already touched 
him, but he needed also a human touch. Then the 
scales fell from his eyes, and he arose and was bap- 
tized. The visit of a brother who was not afraid to 
touch him, nor hesitated to call him " brother," re- 
vived his heart and gave him the assurance that he 
needed. Who knows but that some one is waiting at 
this moment for you or me to lay hands upon him and 
call him " brother " ? There are many in this world 
who are looking for tenderness. The man whom you 
pass on the street corner might look up and hope 
again if you would speak to him the sacred name of 
brother. To himself he has sadly said, " No man 
careth for my soul." The touch of your hands upon 
his shoulder and the sound of your friendly voice 
might avail to win him back to God and Brother- 
hood. 



124 MAY THREE 

Cfte ananstoera&le argument 

" He hath set eternity in their heart." 

Ecclesiastes 3:11. 

YOU say that you find difficulty in the argu- 
ments for immortality. But what about 
those wistful feelings of your heart that keep 
sending the mind on long journeys into the future? 
You say that you are not absolutely sure about the 
inspiration of the Bible. But what about the revela- 
tions in this Book, the hints, the promises, the open 
doors, that tell us so unmistakably about " a far- 
stretching land " which as yet we have not seen? 
You say that your mind is unsettled at times about 
the deity of Jesus Christ. But what about the su- 
pernal beauty of your Lord that has power to 
transfigure life? 

Ah ! no, this world is not our home. He hath set 
eternity in our hearts. The wistfulness of far places 
is in our souls. We are pilgrims on the way, and 
the light of another country is in our eyes. We are 
called to a long journey. Yet it is not so far; the 
buoyancy of glad travel gives lightness to our steps. 
We hasten upon the way, impelled by instincts and 
faiths which nothing can take away. Doubts may 
arise, but the soul's wistfulness lives on in the dark. 
We strain our eyes in the gray morning hours to 
catch the first gleam. " The sands of time are sink- 
ing ! " The dawn will soon appear. 



MAY FOUR 125 

a TBoumiful Mit 

" Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a f oun= 
tain; his branches run over the wall." 

Genesis 49:22. 

WHEN Jacob came to speak of Joseph in his 
last hours he described a bountiful life. 
He would be like a tree by a fountain. 
Nor would his life be selfishly confined, for his 
branches mould run over the wall! It is a picture 
of the bountiful life for all time, and the moment one 
sees the picture it is to feel the wish to live such a life. 
There are many walls that separate us from others, 
but the wall of selfishness is the hardest to scale. The 
temptation is to keep all my branches on my own side 
of the wall. Do they not belong to me? Why not 
live as well as I may then by my own fountain and 
pay no heed to those who are over the wall? If life 
were ordered on this plan what a dreary world this 
would be. No; we are all expected to let some 
branches run over the wall. The branch of interest, 
for example, and the branch of sympathy, and the 
branch of love, and not infrequently the branch of 
friendly aid. In every community, thank God, there 
are many bountiful lives. It is a joy to live near to 
such a one. His branches run over my wall and 
make me glad each day. May their tribe increase ! 



126 MAY FIVE 

Cfte Dutp of JForgetting 

" Forgetting the things which are behind." 

Philippians 3:13. 

IT is our duty to learn how to forget as well as 
to remember. Many persons live too much in 
the past. Their minds are filled with the pain 
and regret of past actions. Their yesterdays em- 
bitter all their to-days. It is not wise to spend one's 
time regretting. Regret at best is but a half 
measure. To fill the mind of the present with the 
ghosts of past " might-have-beens " and " ought-to- 
have-dones " is the least wholesome way in which to 
try to improve one's character. One needs to take 
himself in hand and determine imperiously that he 
will forget his mistakes. They shall not become a 
wet blanket to smother the energy and joy of to-day. 
Also it is our duty deliberately to forget offenses. 
It is a difficult art, but one worth learning, and even 
more worth practising. The unhappiest of mortals 
are they whose minds are fatally tenacious of small 
discomforts and slights. Their imaginations are 
so active that they find offenses where they are least 
to be suspected. Their touchiness is like that of a 
hair-trigger — they are offended without rhyme or 
reason. And once their minds are convinced of 
offense, there is no power of human reason that can 
deliver them from their delusion. 



MAY SIX 127 

$e mm &m potoer 

" Jehovah spake thus to me with a strong hand." 

Isaiah 8:11. 

IT is not the best of rhetoric, nevertheless it is the 
best of sense. There is power in the utterance 
of my Lord to my soul. He speaks to me with a 
strong hand. They said of Jesus Christ in his day, 
that he spake as one having authority and not as the 
scribes. The note of power in the gospel of Christ 
is ever a compelling thing. The demon's cried out — 
" What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Naz- 
areth?" They were conscious that their resistance 
was against a strong hand. Jesus is so masterly, so 
true, so sincere, so absolutely satisfying in all his 
dealings with us. We can never exhaust our Lord, 
never draw too much upon his complete mastery of 
human life. The text tells us another thing — that 
God gives power with command. He speaks to me 
with a strong hand, putting the strength of his hand 
to my shoulder even as he lays his command to my 
heart. It was so when the Master bade the man with 
the withered arm to " stretch forth his hand." 
Power came to the withered member even as he willed 
to do the will of the Master. Take up the duty which 
your Lord lays upon you. Never mind about power 
or ability or success. He is speaking to you " with 
a strong hand." 



128 MAY SEVEN 

Eept 

" And kept for Jesus Christ." Jude i. 

THIS is Jude's salutation to the Christians to 
whom he writes — " to them that are called, 
beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus 
Christ." The Christians who were the first to read 
these words must have felt a thrill in their hearts 
even as do we who read them to-day. " Kept for 
Christ ! " Such keeping can be for no harm, but 
for every good purpose and for all joy. It breeds 
confidence too, for we know that he is able to keep us 
" against that day." One can endure tribulation 
even with this keeping of his soul buoying him up 
daily and hourly. How it lifts the heart to feel that 
we are kept for Jesus Christ ! The Master has need 
of us, and he is keeping us by his grace. " Who are 
kept by the power of God through faith unto salva- 
tion, ready to be revealed in the last time." Let us 
realize that we are kept each day for Jesus Christ, 
to-day and to-morrow and all the days. No day 
then can be without its meaning or without its oppor- 
tunities. Neither can any day be without its 
strength. " I pray that thou shouldest keep them 
from the evil one." Kept for Jesus Christ! Then 
" Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the 
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 



MAY EIGHT 129 

an 2DID=iFa0j)ipneD J^ome 

" And to the church in thy house." Philemon 2. 

THE apostle sends his greetings to Philemon 
the father of the family, to Apphia his wife, 
and to Archippus his son, and then he adds — 
" and to the church in thy house." The little group 
of Christians in that community, having no other 
place of worship, were accustomed to meet in the 
home of their wealthy brother Philemon. It was a 
privilege to the church, but it was even more a 
privilege and honor to Philemon. To have his home 
made a Christian sanctuary must have brought to 
him and his household rich blessings in the gospel. 
No wonder his son became a minister, " our fellow- 
soldier " Paul calls him. No wonder either that 
Paul was confident in sending back the runaway slave 
Onesimus that this new convert would find a congenial 
atmosphere in Philemon's home, where he would be 
" more than a servant, a brother beloved." It is an 
engaging picture to let the mind dwell upon — " the 
church in thy house." Reader, is the church in your 
house? Are the songs of the sanctuary heard there? 
Is the altar of prayer set up there? Is the Holy 
Word of God read and spoken about there? If the 
church is truly in your house, a spiritual atmosphere 
will be there also. The highway to Zion will be there, 
and your children will learn to walk therein. 






130 MAY NINE 

Cfte Cftree i^tinOreO 

" By the three hundred men that lapped will I save 
you." Judges 7:7. 

IT is possible to have too large an army for 
victory. Quantity may submerge quality, and 
the victory be lost. This is the lesson of 
Gideon's army which was reduced finally to a beg- 
garly remnant of three hundred. The large major- 
ity did the conventional, the ordinary, the easy thing. 
Only three hundred did the unusual, the difficult thing, 
lapped of the water " as a dog lappeth " ; but in so 
doing they showed the spirit of sacrifice and endur- 
ance. And Jehovah said, " By the three hundred 
men that lapped will I save you." 

There can never be any great victory anywhere 
until men put the sacrificial element into life. It is 
ease and self-indulgence that cripples many a man 
for the battle. It requires not Holy Writ to tell us 
that economy wins the fight where waste is sure to 
lose; that industry gains ground where indolence 
cannot begin to gain; that self-sacrifice obtains the 
victory where self-indulgence cannot come within 
sight of victory. Good soldiers of Jesus Christ too 
must " endure hardness." When shall we learn that 
God fights with quality, not with quantity? Let us 
hear our Lord and Master calling us away from the 
easy conventionalities of religion, to undertake some- 
thing for his cause in the spirit of real sacrifice. Let 
us pray to-day for grace to do something beyond the 
ordinary. God needs peculiar people.. 



MAY TEN 131 

Clje Coming of Citu0 

" He that comforteth the lowly, even God, comforted us 
by the coming of Titus." 

II Corinthians 7:6. 

THE apostle Paul had had trying times. " Our 
flesh had no relief." "Afflicted on every 
side." " Without were fightings, within were 
fears." In such language as this he describes a 
stressful time in his life, " when we were come into 
Macedonia." In this juncture God comforted him 
by sending Titus to him. The coming of Titus 
brought him such relief and encouragement that he 
records it gratefully. " God comforted us by the 
coming of Titus." We know very little about the 
personal characteristics of this disciple, but we are 
bound to believe from this that he had the gift of en- 
couragement. And how thankful we should all be 
for the Tituses who bring us strength and courage. 
" The coming of Titus " has many times proved a 
blessing in our own lives. Often we have been in 
Paul's situation, ".afflicted on every side," and God 
has sent some one to comfort us. Our comforting 
Titus has not necessarily been a great person, but his 
gift of encouragement has been like solace to the 
bruised soul. Let us thank God to-day for " the 
coming of Titus." The memory of his name even 
thrills the heart. A woman once asked John B. 
Gough to write his name in her autograph album as 
a " momentum "( ?). There are names, like that of 
Titus, which we associate in memory always with en- 



132 MAY ELEVEN 

EeUgfon MJttfjout §>alt 

" If the salt have lost its savor." Matthew 5:13. 

' '*^ T"E are the salt of the earth: but if the salt 
j/ have lost its savor" — its saltness! How 
disagreeable, how almost disgusting and 
nauseating, salt that is not salty, that has lost its 
character as salt. And religion as men practise it 
is frequently in that state. Nothing is so " taste- 
less " as religion that has lost its savor. One can 
tell very easily when it is so with any professor of 
religion. There is no vitality, no " good humor," 
no real and genuine feeling, no stirring of the heart's 
depths. There are no sharp outlines, no clear issues. 
Emotions are skin deep only, and dullness and gray- 
ness creep over the scene of such a life. " Neither 
cold nor hot," is the verdict. When the salt has lost 
its savor religion is all form and fancy. There are 
no great convictions, no profound persuasions, no 
irresistible joys. One whose religion has lost its 
savor cannot be said really to enjoy religion, he 
merely endures it. Religion has palled upon him — 
in short it has become tasteless. And if it is so to 
him, rest assured it is so to others also. " If the 
salt have lost its savor ! " Why, the world turns away 
in disgust from religion that lacks in savor. If the 
world could taste my religion, would there be savor 
in it? Or would it be dull and tasteless, flat and 
flaccid? 



MAY TWELVE 133 



age a TBlessntg! 



will bless thee; . . . and be thou a blessing." 

Genesis 12:2. 



W 



i '"W "TT TE thank thee for the pleasures we have en- 
joyed and for those we have been able to 
confer." So runs a prayer of a favorite 
writer. If we could sum up our joys the amount of 
joy we have found in giving pleasure to others would 
be greater than the joy we have experienced in our 
own pleasures. One needs but the disposition to do 
good, the opportunities are everywhere. God is 
blessing us not for our own sakes alone, but also 
for the sake of others. The thing that we often fail 
to realize is that our own blessing is likely to wither 
unless we try to extend it to others. Christians 
wonder often that they have so little joy in their own 
hearts. Frequently the reason lies in the fact that 
they have not made themselves a blessing to others. 
It is the rule of the Kingdom, and no member can dis- 
regard it without suffering the consequences in his 
own life. Be a blessing and you shall keep your own 
blessing. Lose your life and you shall find it again. 
Give joy and you shall find ever deeper joy. " Be a 
blessing ! " Let us go forth this day among our 
fellow-men with this ancient word of the Scripture 
ringing in our minds. The day on which we do our 
best to practise it cannot be otherwise than a happy 
day. 



134 MAY THIRTEEN 

e@afee Boom mitbin 

" It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me." 

Galatians 2:20. 

WONDERFUL words, wonderful truth! 
Thinking of this exchanged life Martin 
Luther said, " If any man come to my 
door to ask for me, tell him it is not Martin Luther 
who lives here, but Jesus Christ." Have we made 
the most of this secret of the exchanged life? O 
how deep and strong our Christian life would be if 
we but gave Christ right and room to live out his 
life in all its fullness within us ! When he came to 
this world there was no room for him in the inn. 
Even yet men crowd him out of their souls, and 
refuse him room. He asks for wide room in which to 
live, and we give him but confined quarters. How 
can Christ live in us unless the enemies of Christ 
be cast out? If we but make large room the Lord 
will come in and will make us full. " In him ye are 
made full." He will do for us what the sea does for 
the marsh, as Sidney Lanier sings in " The Marshes 
of Glynn": — 

" Till his waters have flooded the uttermost creeks and 
the low-lying lanes, 
And the marsh is meshed with a million veins." 

Christ will " lend large " of his fullness and will fill 
even the undiscovered emptinesses of our lives. 



MAY FOURTEEN 135 



Cije ©ong also 



And when the burnt=offering began, the song of Je= 
hovah began also." 

II Chronicles 29:27. 



A 



' 4 y^ ND all the assembly worshiped, and the 
singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; 
all this continued until the burnt-offering 
was finished." The burnt-offering was " an offering 
made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah." With- 
out rejoicing and singing the " sweet savor" of the 
offering would be lost. Therefore when the burnt- 
offering began, the song of Jehovah began also. 
The song also ! How many of us there are who are 
tempted to omit the song when we make our offerings 
unto God. We bring our offering to be sure, but not 
in gladness of heart, not with song and rejoicing. 
There is no thrill of the heart, and no glad exalta- 
tion of soul. But our Lord wishes a song also with 
the offering. He desires the devotion of willing and 
glad hearts, he longs for the giver with the gift. 
" The Lord loveth a cheerful giver," one who laughs 
and sings even while he performs his duty, one who 
gives and works not grudgingly or of necessity, but 
with a free and singing heart. The song also ! Our 
Lord is waiting for the offering, and he is listening 
for the song also. How are we doing our work for 
Christ? Is there a glad refrain in all that we do? 
Has the song of Jehovah begun in our lives? 






136 MAY FIFTEEN 

SgMne anO Cfritte 

"These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to 
heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come." 

John 17:1. 

THE best prayers of men begin on lower levels 
and sweep upward to God, carrying souls into 
God's presence. The prayer of Christ begins 
on the highest levels and sweeps downward, bringing 
God into the lives of men. Observe how he draws 
upon the resources of the Kingdom. i?£-sources ! — 
that is, deep reservoirs of power and grace that are 
behind the sources. There is the resource of om- 
nipotence, " As thou gavest him authority over all 
flesh." There is the resource of a finished work, 
" Having accomplished the work which thou hast 
given me to do." There is the resource of a continu- 
ous advocacy, " I pray for those whom thou hast 
given me." There is the resource of a divine com- 
munion, " As thou didst send me into the world, even 
so sent I them into the world." There is the re- 
source of a mighty union, " I in them, and thou in 
me." Such were the exalted strains of our Lord's 
out-breathings in prayer. Reassuring spectacle! 
— Jesus Christ praying for his own, flinging the 
shelter of omnipotent protection away out into the 
years to fall like a mantle upon all who name his 
name. To the comfort and shelter of our Lord's far- 
reaching intercession let us repair as men who are in 
need of unfailing strength. 






MAY SIXTEEN 137 

a Promise for tfte MJalfeer 

"They shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, 
and not faint." Isaiah 40:31. 

EVERY part of this great promise of renewal 
to those who wait for Jehovah is wonderful. 
There will be high places that they cannot 
scale, and God will give them wings to mount up like 
eagles. There will be long hard ways to travel, and 
God will renew their strength that " they shall run 
and not be weary." But better than either of these 
is the last portion of the promise — " they shall walk, 
and not faint." For while mounting up with wings 
is only occasional, and while running is not very fre- 
quent, walking is the demand of every day. Walk- 
ing is difficult too because it is steady and constant. 
God needs good walkers in the ways of Zion more 
than he needs those who speed or fly over the walls. 
It is our walk too that gives an unmistakable hint of 
what we have in our hearts. Therefore he gave this 
good word to us for our daily use — " They shall 
walk, and not faint." He will stay and refresh us for 
the hard pressure of the way. The burden shall not 
press too hard; the heat shall not be too great; the 
way shall not be too long. " They shall not faint " 
in the doing of one thing, and doing it on and on. 






138 MAY SEVENTEEN 

Cfce ^{jepijerd psalm 

"Jehovah is my Shepherd." Psalms 23:1. 

SPURGEON called the twenty-third Psalm the 
" nightingale of the Psalms." It is " small 
and of homely feather, yet it has filled the 
whole sky and world with melody." Our remote fore- 
fathers no doubt were shepherds, and it is still in the 
blood. Else how is it that none of us can read the 
Shepherd Psalm without a tender feeling in the heart? 
" Jehovah is my Shepherd." This sweet thought 
of God could never have originated within doors. It 
grew up in the valleys and on the hills of the great 
roomy world. True my Lord is with me in the closet, 
but that is not the Psalmist's thought. My Lord 
is a Shepherd to me. He is with me on the sunlit 
hills, and he is with me also in the darkened valleys. 
He is the Companion of all my walks and ways. 
The great world is an easy place to lose one's self in, 
but Jehovah is my Shepherd. There is never a night 
so dark in the valleys that he would not come to 
search for me. There is never a time of danger so 
dire that he would not stand for me with his rod and 
staff. There is never a pasture land too luscious for 
him to lead me to, and never a resting-place by still 
waters too gracious for him to seek out for me. 



MAY EIGHTEEN 139 

Cftep Cftat Listen 

" And the prisoners were listening to them." Acts 16:25. 
^ BOUT midnight Paul and Silas were praying 



A 



and singing hymns unto God, and the pris- 
oners were listening to them." Paul and 
Silas were not singing for this purpose, but their 
song carried to the prisoners. There is never a true 
song of the heart that does not carry to some other 
heart. Others are listening to our song. If the 
song be true and hearty, it will strengthen and in- 
spire others to be " prisoners of hope." If the song 
be weak and wavering, it may deepen the dejection of 
others, and blacken their sky still more. There are 
imprisoned souls close to us always. Some are pris- 
oners of sorrow, others are prisoners of sin, and still 
others are prisoners of circumstance. They are lis- 
tening for an uplifting song. Alas ! if they hear it 
not. What interested the prisoners in the Philip- 
pian jail was that Paul and Silas were able to sing in 
the inner prison with their feet fast in the stocks. It 
was not so with themselves. They rather cursed and 
beat their breasts in frenzy, or lapsed into sullen si- 
lence. But these men were singing hymns ! It 
means much to the world to know how we bear our 
sorrow and endure our imprisonment. If we can 
raise a hymn out of our midnight, our song will carry 
to other listening prisoners and do them good. 



140 MAY NINETEEN 

l^elp for J^arO Cfttngs 

"By my God do I leap over a wall." II Samuel 22:30. 

FOR the most part God's help is meant to avail 
for the ordinary things of life, the daily task, 
the usual difficulty, the casual opportunity. 
But God's arm is not shortened, neither is his help 
easily exhausted. When a great enterprise comes, 
or an unusual trial, or a heart-searching sorrow, or 
an extraordinary opportunity, his strength is ready 
for use at such times also. " By my God do I leap 
over a wall." He is Lord of our difficulty as well 
as of our easy times.. How greatly this promise 
should encourage us. Many days will pass with 
nothing more than the ordinary trials which we are 
well accustomed to meet. Then a day dawns that 
will try our souls. Some great duty is laid upon us 
to-day, or the shock of some great sorrow comes. 
Some strong barrier is reared before us like a wall, 
or some apparently impossible task is imposed upon 
us. What now? Shall the help of our God avail 
in su'ch a time? Yes, he will help us climb the Hill 
Difficulty, even as he delights to guide us in the smil- 
ing valley. He will even help us to " leap over a 
wall." Dear hindered and troubled soul, hemmed in 
as you suppose by " impossibilities " of every kind, 
hear his word about leaping barriers. 



MAY TWENTY 141 

Stooping to Conquer 

" Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 2:5. 

READER, if you find it hard to practise lowli- 
ness of mind, if you are troubled with petty 
jealousies, if you discover yourself indulging 
in selfish regard for your own interests, to the exclu- 
sion of the interests of others — come and sit down 
in the presence of this wonderful description of the 
mind of Christ. He " emptied himself," took " the 
form of a servant," " humbled himself," became " obe- 
dient even unto death." To the standard of Christ's 
self-surrender the apostle would have us look up. 
" Have this mind in you." You find it hard to give 
up something that you counted a prize? But how 
small seems your self-surrender in comparison with 
your Lord's, and how glorious seems his willingness 
beside your reluctance. If your feet falter on the 
bare, hard staircase of duty and sacrifice, stop to 
think that your Master never faltered once in his 
sacrifice. And there is another side to his humilia- 
tion. When he had completely humbled himself, he 
was prepared to be " highly exalted." The place of 
humiliation is the place of power. " When I am 
weak, then am I strong." We are not ready to as- 
cend, unless we descend. It is necessary to stoop to 
conquer. A life without sacrifice is a life without 
power. They that lose their lives for love's sake 
shall find them again with love's new stamp of value 
upon them. 



142 MAY TWENTY-ONE 

3Ioint#eirg toitf) tlje ^ett of ail Cfiings 

" Heirs of God and joint=heirs with Christ." 

Romans 8:17. 

ENLARGE my heart, O God, for such a glorious 
truth as this. To be an heir means to have 
rights and privileges, to have standing in the 
house, to have open doors. " No longer a bond- 
servant, but a son ; and if a son then an heir through 
God." We are " heirs according to promise." It is 
enough to fill our lives with wonder and spiritual 
bloom. Christ himself is " appointed heir of all 
things," and we are " joint-heirs with Christ." Can 
it be that I am called to enter with our Lord into the 
riches that belong to him ? Yes, for Paul says, " In 
everything ye were enriched in him." Again he says, 
" All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ 
is God's." What a marvelous linking together of 
the joys of ownership. Have we truly realized how 
rich we are as joint-heirs with Christ? Have we 
realized the treasures of knowledge, for example, that 
are opened up to us ? " All things that I heard from 
oiy father I have made known unto you." If there 
be a dark problem in life, you and I as heirs of God 
may press close up to the side of Christ, and ask to 
share the knowledge that he has of life and its prob- 
lems. 



MAY TWENTY-TWO 146 

Cfttotoing Doton tfte <£>aumiet 

" Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask and 
ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full.'* 

John 16:24. 

OUR Lord throws down the gauntlet to believers 
here, and challenges them to large asking in 
prayer. Henceforth we need never hesitate 
to come with boldness unto the Throne of Grace, and 
with large requests. " Hitherto ye have asked noth- 
ing." You have asked but you have not asked ac- 
cording to the measure of your privilege. Much less 
have you asked according to the measure of your 
Father's power and willingness to give. How mea- 
gerly we have asked in view of the limitless resources 
of our God. The silver and the gold are his, and 
" the cattle upon • a thousand hills." Our Lord 
strikes the note of expansion, and enlargement in 
prayer. No more hesitant coming to God in prayer. 
No more meagerness of petitions. We have but 
touched the hem of the garment of our privilege. It 
is time to pray larger, fuller prayers " in my name." 
Have we not contented ourselves with light and mea- 
ger calls upon the infinite resources of our Heavenly 
Father? Have we not made hesitant requests like 
strangers, instead of asking like " heirs of God and 
joint-heirs with Christ "? Our meager asking more- 
over has left our hearts empty. Our joy has not 
been " made full." Do you wonder often why your 
heart seems shallow and empty? Have you ever 
truly asked God to fill you? 






144 MAY TWENTY-THREE 

Cfte Silent partner 

" For we are God's felIow= workers: ye are God's hus= 
bandry, God's building." 

I Corinthians 3:9. 

GOD is our silent partner. He is always at 
work in the silent forces and laws of life and 
in his providences as well, bringing things to 
pass. If God had not prepared the way how long 
would trade exist? How long would values last? 
So also in manufacture. Adam Bede was altogether 
wise when he spoke of " religion in good carpentry." 
God helps especially in everything constructive. 
When a man builds a house, let him remember that 
the Creator's laws of gravitation and lines and angles, 
resistance and support, are working with him and for 
him. When a farmer sows the seed, let him gratefully 
recall the beneficence of God in the seasons, in the 
rain and the dew, in the darkness and the light. 
When the householder winds his " grandfather's 
clock," let him not forget that the stars in their 
courses are helping to run the machinery. When 
the housewife makes the bread, let her remember that 
the whole course of nature has led up to this impor- 
tant hour. Back of the bread the miller, and back 
of the miller the wheat, and back* of the wheat the 
harvest, and back of the harvest the sun and the rain 
and the dew and a score of geologic ages, and back 
of all these — the Silent Partner ! 



MAY TWENTY-FOUR 



145 



O5ie00ing0 fn Wiotk 

" In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." 

Genesis 3:19. 

THE " primal curse " some love to call it. And if 
a man sees only the curse, he will live out his 
days in drudgery. His task will be to him a 
galling yoke, and he will go to his duty day by day 
as unto slavish toil. His heart will know no uplift 
of joy, neither will his soul be buoyed by the glad- 
ness of service. He toils, but without freedom, with- 
out exhilaration. He serves, but without promise 
in his soul. 

But the divine curse of labor contains secret bless- 
ings which men must find and use for their joy in 
work. Drudgery there will be in this world, and 
many a man must bend his back to unremitting toil. 
But even drudgery may be lifted to higher levels. 
Interest is the first great law of blessing in one's 
work. One may discover sources of interest in the 
uninteresting. One may climb the " bare, hard stair- 
case of duty " and keep it ever as something fresh 
and new. The bane of work is dullness. Enliven 
your task, make it new. Another law of blessing in 
work is good feeling or good humor. The mind after 
all is the arbiter of fortune. Think well of your 
work. Do not run down your own occupation. If 
it seem not worth while, make it worth while. And 
remember always that God works ! 



146 MAY TWENTY-FIVE 

Cije Cop of tfte LaDOet 

" And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the 
earth, and the top of it reached to heaven." 

Genesis 28:12. 

IT is well to school ourselves to thinking of the 
other world as near. Jacob's dream stood for 
reality to him. Perhaps his weakness lay in 
putting divine things too far away. Therefore God 
showed him a ladder, whose foot touched the earth, 
and whose top " reached to heaven." It is a fault 
with many of us that we put heaven and eternity 
and God himself a long way off. We make the dis- 
tances too great for convenience. If one cannot feel 
himself touching eternity with his head when he 
stands most erect in life, eternity is of little present 
avail to him. If one cannot put forth his hand 
through the dark and touch God, then God is too 
far removed for our needs. We need to keep divine 
things near. Put them too far away and they lose 
efficiency.. There is a beautiful truth in the ascend- 
ing and descending angels. Messengers of life go 
up, and messengers of heaven come down. Unseen 
ministries are at work for us constantly. Heaven 
should be very close to us in our work. A man may 
be preaching a sermon on the earth and the top of 
his ladder may reach to heaven. Another may be 
painting a house and the top of his ladder may rest 
upon the Golden Gate. 



MAY TWENTY-SIX 147 

e©ucft 90ore 

" Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little 
faith?" Matthew 6:30. 

WHAT lily thinks of worrying, with the 
father of lights stooping to pour his 
glory daily upon it? And why should 
we be anxious with the Father's love above us and 
about us ? " Shall he not much more clothe you ? " 
We can trust the Heavenly Father who lavishes such 
care upon perishable flowers. We can trust him not 
only for this time but for the time that is to come. 
These bodies that are wearing out — he will array 
them, put new and brighter clothing upon them, in 
the Resurrection Day. 

" A body wearing out, 

A crumbling house of clay ! 
O agony of doubt 

And darkness and dismay! 
Trust God and see 
What I shall be — 
His best surprise 
Before your eyes ! " 

These souls of ours — " it is not yet made manifest 
what we shall be ! " " If God so clothe the grass of 
the field, which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into 
the oven," will he neglect so delicate a thing as a 
human soul? "We know that when he shall appear 
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 
There is no need of managing for God. Do not 
worry, children of the Father. 






148 MAY TWENTY-SEVEN 

©o Sip anB JLoob 

" Get thee up on a high mountain." 

Isaiah 40:9. 

IF you wish to see, do not stay in the valleys. 
" Get thee up on a high mountain." We need 
to do this first in order that we may see more. 
Down below the fog surrounds us, and the air is not 
favorable for seeing. Besides there are some things 
that are wholly out of sight until we go up higher. 
The higher you go, the wider your horizon, and the 
more you see. Have you had a misunderstanding 
with friend or neighbor? " Get thee up on a high 
mountain." There are some things, it may be, about 
this trouble that you have not clearly seen. Go up 
higher and you will understand better. You will 
observe facts and conditions that you did not see 
before. You will be able too to look down into your 
neighbor's life, and discover his needs and his points 
of view. This is not all. The look from above is 
a different look. Many of our troubles take on a 
changed aspect when we go up and look down upon 
them. We see the relations of things ; we see that 
things are working together and not in confusion. 
The light that falls upon life from above is a trans- 
figuring light. " Get thee up on a high mountain," 
and look at life's daily trials, life's disagreements, 
life's disappointments. How different they look! 
How small they look! 

4 



MAY TWENTY-EIGHT 149 

CftobeD mem 

" And Isaac digged again the wells of water which they 
had digged in the days of Abraham his father." 

Genesis 26:18. 

THE Philistines had filled up the wells that Abra- 
ham digged, but Isaac digged them again. He 
needed the same wells that his father had 
drank from. I like to think also that he was not 
devoid of sentiment toward something that his father 
had done. So Isaac digged again the choked wells. 
It is a melancholy thing in life that the wells of our 
fathers often become choked. The Philistines are 
still in the land, and it is much to their liking to go 
about stopping the wells of the people. Our fathers 
observed the Sabbath with care, but the Philistines 
have stopped that well for many of us. Truly that 
which is meant to be a fountain of rest and re- 
freshment has become a choked well to a great num- 
ber of persons who do not begin to realize their 
loss. Would that Isaac might come, my friend, and 
dig the well of Sabbath Observance for you again. 
Another example of choked wells. Our fathers and 
mothers went daily to the Word of God, as to a foun- 
tain, for their daily supply. But for many to-day 
the Holy Bible is as a choked well. Business and 
pleasure, and in some cases doubt and sin, have 
stopped this precious fountain. Let Isaac come and 
dig again the well of Daily Bible Reading and Prayer. 



150 MAY TWENTY-NINE 

Prosperity of §>ouI 

"Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper 
and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 

Ill John 2. 

BEAUTIFUL benediction, and worthy to be 
deeply pondered. For there are few subjects 
on which we so much need to be set right as 
on the subject of prosperity and success. We need 
the standards of the Word of God, which are ever 
according to soul-measurements. The apostle wished 
that his friends might prosper, " even as thy soul 
prospereth." Suppose a business man, or a farmer, 
or a college student, or a society woman to be ask- 
ing this question — " How doth my soul prosper in 
all these things? " So ought we all to do indeed, for 
prosperity of the soul is the very highest kind of 
prosperity, being profitable for the life that now is 
and for that which is to come. When we go upon a 
journey, or embark upon an enterprise, or make a 
bargain or a partnership, or give ourselves to friend- 
ship, or have any manner of dealing with our fellow- 
men, like writing a letter or carrying on a conversa- 
tion — it is highly important to know how fares the 
soul, or how fare all the souls that are concerned. 
It is a true and accurate measurement of men and 
things, and with God's help one may learn even in 
small affairs to make excellent use of it. " As thy 
soul prospereth." 



MAY THIRTY 151 

a Dap of Memorial 

" What mean ye by these stones? " 

Joshua 4:6. 

LITTLE white stones in God's acre ! They are 
stones of memorial. Hallowed spots there 
are on the hillside and in the valley, and to-day 
the nation is turning to the graves of her brave 
soldiers to strew them with flowers as a memorial. 
They went forth in their youth to the battle-field. 
From town and country-side, from office and store 
and factory and farm, from school and college and 
pulpit, they gathered themselves together in the day 
of great peril, and went out in the dark to do their 
duty. They counted not their own lives as precious : 
neither did they falter at the weight of sacrifice. 
Behind them they left fortune, loved ones, and life it- 
self. Many were maimed in the rage of battle be- 
yond repair, and many brought away scars of mem- 
ory that years could not erase. Many gave up their 
lives freely on the field of battle, and many souls 
went out from fevered sick-beds in hospitals and 
tents. Many escaped as by fire and lived to declare 
the miracle of God, and many were ready for sacri- 
fice but were not called. 

To-day throughout all the land processions are 
forming. Men and women and little children are 
laden with flowers for the graves of the soldiers. 
Strew red roses for sacrifice, and white ones for 
honor, and many other kinds for gratitude. 



152 MAY THIRTY-ONE 

Cfte Mistake of J^aste 

" He that believeth shall not be in haste." 

Isaiah 28:16. 

THE prophet is speaking even more to our day 
than to his own. We have come to think of 
haste as inevitable. Every sign-post of our 
civilization seems to say, " Move quickly." We have 
almost forgotten the maxims of caution, such as 
" Make haste slowly," and " Haste makes waste." 
The prophet's words are very modern in their ap- 
plication. They warn us, for instance, against a 
too hasty success in life, a too rapid accumulation 
of this world's goods. He that believeth in the old 
laws of industry and perseverance and honesty and 
economy and generosity shall not haste away to a 
quick success achieved by doubtful methods. Be sure 
that the " pile " you are making has no defect in the 
foundations. 

Still more the text reminds us of the necessity 
of sticking close to things that are vital. The temp- 
tation is strong at all times to haste away to things 
that do not count. He that believeth in vital things 
shall not haste away to the " tawdry ugliness " of a 
worldly life. He that believeth in the solid worth of 
life shall not haste away to empty pleasures. " She 
that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she 
liveth." He that believeth in the realities of the 
Kingdom of God shall not haste away to " the vain- 
glory of life," which perisheth like " the grace of the 
fashion " of a flower. 



JUNE ONE 153 

Putting tfte mmt 2Dn 

"The earth is full of thy riches." Psalms 104:24. 

THE workers in a settlement house in one of the 
large cities became interested in a young girl 
who showed a talent for painting. She loved 
especially to paint pansies, although she had never 
seen any real ones. One day a friend gave her a 
bouquet of pansies. After looking at them for some 
moments, she exclaimed, " I can paint them, but I 
can't put the velvet on" God has put the velvet on 
innumerable things, so that this rough world shines 
with beauty. The earth is full of his riches. The 
peacock's wings might have been left without their 
iridescent greens and blues, and their " eyes " of 
feathered glory. Why has the Creator taken such 
pains, and used such a lavish hand, with caterpillars 
and moths, and other lowly things? And why has 
he made " the bud of the tender herb " ? And why 
has he put so much beauty in the human eye and the 
human voice? And why has he made the damask of 
the maiden's cheek, and the modesty of a youthful 
blush? And why has he given "beauty for ashes," 
and " the oil of joy for mourning "? And why has 
he put gentleness with strength, and simplicity with 
grandeur, and courteous ways with a heroic spirit? 
It is because having created, he caressed many things 
that he had made, and put the velvet on with his lov- 
ing touch. 



154 JUNE TWO 

Cfte ISonDage of Defit 

" The borrower is servant to the lender." 

Proverbs 22:7. 

DON'T go in debt. Remember Shakespeare's 
wisdom — " Borrowing dulls the edge of hus- 
bandry." Remember Bulwer Lytton's words 
— " Never treat money affairs with levity ; money is 
character." It is an astounding fact that there are 
many men who would knock a man down at the slight- 
est hint of dishonesty, who are nevertheless very care- 
less about money matters. Money is good to have, as 
poor Bobby Burns said who had so little of it, 

" Not for to hide it in a hedge, 
Nor for a train attendant, 
But for the glorious privilege 
Of being independent." 

But to depend upon money that is not our own is 
as far as possible from independence; it is a galling 
slavery, whose chains clank by day and by night. 
" Better go supperless to bed than rise in the morn- 
ing in debt." " If you once ask the devil to dinner, 
it will be hard to get him out of the house again." 
The eccentric John Randolph once sprang to his feet 
in the American Congress and exclaimed in his shrill 
voice, " Mr. Speaker, I have found it." After a 
pause, he continued — " I have found the philoso- 
pher's stone: it is pay as you go." 






JUNE THREE 155 

lettuce at tfte Door 

" I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God 
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." 

Psalms 84:10. 

IT matters little as to the particular task: the 
work itself is great. The Old Testament wor- 
shipers grasped this thought. To snuff candles 
in the tabernacle, or to carry wood for the sacrifice, 
or to wear a linen ephod like Samuel — this was 
honor enough. Anything for God is a great work. 
His work is never otherwise than large. It is a 
simple thing to be a door-keeper, but think of the 
hallowed privilege of opening the door of the Lord's 
house. Surely one may count himself honored in- 
deed who is permitted to show the way to others in 
the pathway to Zion. Let us keep a childlike joy in 
the work of our God. Too often our tasks become 
common to us. The joy of workmanship passes 
away. Slight duties even seem hard. Let us move 
again with free and happy step to do the work of 
God's house. Blessed is the courteous usher in the 
church aisle. Blessed is he who greets the stranger 
at the church door. Blessed are they who make the 
church door attractive to others. The door of God's 
house is a rare opportunity for service. A word 
spoken there, a friendly smile, or a touch of the hand, 
may enter into the history of the Kingdom of Heaven. 



156 'JUNE FOUR 

at Ca&le 

" And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he 
had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them." 

Mark 14:22. 

IT was such an ingenuous thing for the Master to 
do, to eat a friendly meal with his disciples at 
the close of that sad week, to thrust aside, for 
the time, the shadows that were gathering thick and 
fast about him, and to abandon himself to the joys 
of that spiritual fellowship that had been ripening 
between him and the band of his immediate follow- 
ers. We are not to think of it as a sad hour, al- 
though all the solemn meanings of the week were 
being gathered up in the simple observance. Its key- 
note is joy and triumph, its very atmosphere is warm 
with friendly feeling. It is laden, this Supper is, 
with theological distinction to be sure, but much 
more it is replete with simple friendship and com- 
munion. Here are the Master and his friends ! 
Here the simplicity and grandeur of our faith are 
mingled in the customs and courtesies of a quiet meal. 
What an hour for the interchange of confidence, for 
the unburdening of souls! This tender hour is full 
of sweet and gracious invitations. In the far East 
a proverb is current that runs thus : " No man 
eateth bread with me and keepeth a secret." Who 
hath aught to tell his Lord ? Let him speak it at the 
table. 



JUNE FIVE 157 

People Wit s@eet 

" And he came forth and saw a great multitude, and he 
had compassion on them." 

Mark 6:34. 

OUR Lord was interested in the multitude. 
This is the true test of love and sympathy. 
Do we feel an interest in the nameless crowd? 
Can we work for people without knowing them ? No 
man lacks opportunity to do good while he walks and 
talks with men. Let us learn from the Master to 
put away contempt for the multitude and to banish 
indifference. Let us keep saying all the time as we 
go about, " Blessed be company." Let us keep ask- 
ing ourselves constantly, " How can I help the peo- 
ple I meet? " A thing of first importance is to be- 
lieve in people. Business and society train men to be 
on the lookout for evil. Religion trains men to be 
on the lookout for good. Every day there will be 
some delightful surprise. After all, " ugliness is but 
skin deep." There are angels hiding behind corners, 
and heroes masking behind the unheroic commonplace. 
Casual meetings with men often reveal great depths. 
A telephone communication may afford an opportu- 
nity to be generous or heroic. An incident of the 
streets may oifer a momentous occasion for compas- 
sion. The dull, tired faces of a crowd may invite 
the benison of a smile. How silent we are toward 
one another. " I know thee not, friend, but what's 
the good word with thee? " 



158 JUNE SIX 

TMtetring in ©ne's Wlotk 

" I am doing a great work." 

Nehemiah 6:3. 

NEHEMIAH believed in the magnitude of his 
work. It was common labor that he was 
doing — fitting bricks and stones into their 
places in the wall — but to him it was like putting 
diamonds in a crown. It was not his own work: it 
was God's work. He was doing it with that thought 
in mind. There is a fashion of gesture about him 
that carries conviction as to what he was doing. It 
is easy to judge whether a man believes in his work. 
The best work that gets itself done in the world is 
done in this fashion — out of the heart, with mighty 
conviction. With such workmen there is no shrink- 
ing and no shirking and no missing of the point. 
With such workmen too there will be a ring of pride 
and joy in the voice, " I am doing a great work, so 
that I cannot come down." A man must believe in 
his own work : then he will do it out of a full heart. 
May we catch the spirit of this quiet workman on 
the wall as we think of the magnitude of God's work 
in the world. What a work it is ! It is not the 
magnitude of what we do, it is the magnitude of the 
work that counts. 



A' 



JUNE SEVEN 159 

Cfte OnnameD 

" And the brethren that are with them." 

Romans 16:14. 

< < \ SYNCRITUS, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, 
Hermes — and the brethren that are with 
them." Some have their names mentioned, 
while others remain in the obscurity of the unnamed. 
These latter were evidently not destined to promi- 
nence. Nevertheless the intimation is that they were 
faithful. Fidelity is more than fame. God's King- 
dom, like a building, is made up of invisible as well 
as visible parts. There are many " uncalendared 
saints," and there is much anonymous virtue. Let 
us be willing to be unknown, but let us never be 
willing to be unfaithful. Is there one kind of saint- 
hood only, or are there not two kinds? One, the 
kind that is widely known and recognized in the 
world ; the other, the kind that the world knows not, 
but that will some day be revealed. There is a glory 
of public service, and there is also a glory of ob- 
scurity. The background of both is fidelity. For 
the time it may be that some of us are mere under- 
studies, to work along faithfully and obscurely, pre- 
paring for something — we know not what. Work 
such as this requires special courage — to attract 
little attention but to be learning our part, to seem 
to be doing very little but to be getting ready. The 
deeper truth about preparation is that often we are 
preparing for a larger work than we know. 



A 



160 JUNE EIGHT 

at gottr ^ertitce! 

" We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, 
and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." 

II Corinthians 4:5. 

4 ' y^ T your service " — this is the final word 
of Christianity to the world. Christ's 
thought of service is transforming the 
world. It belongs to his church especially, but it 
is not confined to his church. It has spread abroad 
and is training the spirit of the world. Usefulness 
has become, under the tutelage of Christianity, a 
note of the higher world-life. We hear Mrs. Brown- 
ing saying — 

" Get leave to work in the world, 
'Tis the best you get at all." 

In the intense light of the Christian gospel that is 
now burning in Christian lands, it may be truly said 
that there is no real respectability of soul, no gen- 
uine worth and dignity of life, apart from the Chris- 
tian idea of service. We serve not ourselves, but 
others. Enlightened government is not a form of 
mastery so much as it is a form of organized serv- 
ice. Human society in none of its forms indeed 
exists for itself alone. Through revolutions, through 
perils, through mighty transitions, slowly, painfully, 
but surely, the world makes room for Christ's idea 
of service. " I am among you as he that serveth," 
said Jesus. Ourselves your servants then for Jesus' 
sake. 



JUNE NINE 161 

Cfte QSHnfetrp of §>orroto 

" A time to weep, and a time to laugh." 

Ecclesiastes 3:4. 

LAUGHTER alone cannot produce great men 
and noble women. Sorrow has a deeper, 
finer touch than joy. Sorrow leads us 
deeper into life than joy, and the far-off interest of 
tears is greater than that of laughter. The great 
poets have not been men of laughter only, but of 
sorrow as well. In the valley of the shadow beauti- 
ful flowers of the soul grow. It was sorrow that 
brought forth Tennyson's " In Memoriam," and Mil- 
ton's " Lycidas." It was the pensive spirit in man 
that gave birth to Gray's " Elegy in a Country 
Churchyard," while Emerson's " Threnody " on the 
death of his little son was the outgrowth of an early 
tragedy that touched the poet's soul, leaving him, as 
he said, lacking " a piece of sunshine well worth my 
watching from morning to night." Great souls learn 
to " suffer and be strong." Sorrow is a wonderful 
teacher. Thinking of this our Lord pronounced a 
benediction upon those who sorrow not in vain. 
" Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh." 
In a region of many vineyards, the earthquake ruined 
the land, leaving great gaps in the earth and spoiling 
the vines. But when the peasants looked more closely 
they found a precious metal in the fissures. So God 
gives " a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourn- 
ing." 



162 JUNE TEN 

Cfte Cure of Littleness 

" And the city Heth foursquare, and the length thereof 
is as great as the breadth: . . . the length and 
the breadth and the height thereof are equal." 

Revelation 21:16. 

THERE is no meagerness about the City of 
God. Its measurements suggest magnitude. 
" Twelve thousand furlongs ! " — what roomi- 
ness in God's plans. This picture of the Holy City 
is given to us to teach us to think in terms of God's 
measurements. We need magnitude in our thought. 
How shut in and limited our lives are. Fretting 
cares beset us. Difficulties hem us in. Stone walls 
confine us. We are heirs of immortality : yet we are 
subject to heats and colds, to flux and change. 
What creatures of circumstance we are! "The in- 
fallible Pope may choke upon a fly." One might 
walk down the street, his heart uplifted, his eyes upon 
the sky, and stumble upon a common clod of the 
earth. Such are the shocks and contrasts, the trip- 
pings and fallings, that remind us of our limitations. 
From time to time therefore we need to look up and 
see the Holy City and think in terms of God's meas- 
urements. " The length and the breadth and the 
height thereof are equal ! " God cures our littleness 
by his magnitude. We are heirs of a city that 
" lieth foursquare." We are sharers in the great- 
ness of God's plans. 



JUNE ELEVEN 163 

3n tfte $&mt 

" And he took a little child, and set him in the midst of 
them." Mark 9:36. 

THE three most beautiful things that God has 
made are the flower, the bird, and the child. 
The beauty of the flower is the beauty of form 
and color. The beauty of the bird is the beauty of 
form and motion. But the beauty of the child is the 
beauty of form and growth. The whole world's 
promise is in this little mite of humanity with tender 
eyes and cooing voice. How weak and tottering he 
is, how uncertain his language, how light his grasp. 
Growth will do wonders for him. Soon his body will 
wax strong and his mind expand. Each day will wit- 
ness miracles of increase. Vast intelligences flow in 
upon his soul. Important distinctions, like " mine " 
and " thine," arise within him. " Self " and 
" other " become erelong great issues of his life. 
The world dawns upon him, and imagination soon 
opens its eye to other worlds unseen. Within him a 
world all his own grows apace — the world of in- 
stinct, emotion, ambition, and passion, whilst many 
kingdoms and interests of the world without clamor 
at his doors. Meantime Jesus, the Lord of little 
children and of men, never loses his interest. He 
would keep him ever where he placed him, " in the 
midst of them." 



164 JUNE TWELVE 

Cf)e ^igfter S©ati)emattc0 of 
EeDemptfon 

" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." 

Ephesians 1:3. 

READ the whole passage if you wish to know 
what is meant by " every spiritual blessing in 
the heavenly places in Christ." No less than 
seven spiritual blessings are enumerated, and all of 
them " in Christ." He chose us in him. He fore- 
ordained us unto adoption through him. He gave 
us redemption and forgiveness through his blood. 
" In him, I say ! " Yes, we are made a heritage in 
him, and in him also we are sealed with the Holy 
Spirit of promise. Read this passage over and over 
again, until your heart is filled with the sevenfold 
wonder of God's provision in the gospel. There is 
much here that we cannot fathom. There are mys- 
teries here that strike a holy silence in the soul. But 
one thing we must not miss, the gospel comes out of 
such depths as the " will," the " purpose," the " good 
pleasure " of God. Salvation has not grown up like 
a mushroom over night. It is no after-thought. 
An eternal purpose of God has been at work since 
" before the foundation of the world." It is at work 
now. This is the higher mathematics of redemption. 
God's purpose is our sure anchorage. It is the grip 
of the cable in the Rock of Ages. 



JUNE THIRTEEN 165 

" Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." 

Psalms 19:13. 

WHAT are presumptuous sins? Sins that 
presume, sins that are overbold and arro- 
gant, sins that bluster, sins done with a 
high hand. There is the sin of habitual fault-finding, 
for example, or censoriousness. What is more self- 
confident and arrogant than this? The habitual 
fault-finder fairly revels in his fine art. It becomes 
so easy for him to find fault. He will " find faults 
even in Paradise." The censorious person is the 
most veritable blusterer in all the community. What 
a noise he makes about the mote in his brother's 
eye. You would suppose that he himself was a para- 
gon of virtue, if you and all men did not know of 
the beam in his own eye. Therein lies the arrogance, 
the presumptuousness, of his sin. He presumes to 
be better than other men. One of the most high- 
handed sins a man can commit against his fellow- 
men is to be guilty of everlasting censure. How pre- 
sumptuous for one sinner to be ever laying blame 
upon other sinners ! Why does the Psalmist pray to 
be kept back from presumptuous sins? Because 
they are such easy sins. It is so easy, for instance, 
to find fault. Moreover if one yield to it, it soon 
runs into a habit. Therefore the Psalmist asks to 
be held in check, so that he may not run into such 
sins. 



rp 1 



166 JUNE FOURTEEN 

Cfie Warrant of aEntimsiasm 

" I tell you, that if these shall hold their peace, the 
stones will cry out." Luke 19:40. 

"PT! EAC HER, rebuke thy disciples." So said 
the Pharisees on the day when the people 
were shouting hosannas and spreading 
branches and even garments on the ground for the 
triumphal entry of Christ. And the answer was con- 
clusive and silencing — " If these shall hold their 
peace, the stones will cry out." There are always 
those who are ready to criticise free-handed and 
free-hearted action. It is " unusual." It is not 
quite in " good taste." It is not altogether " conven- 
tional." It may not " hold out." There was one 
who criticised the alabaster box. There are those 
who criticise Gothic cathedrals. The Gothic cathe- 
dral comes out of the heart. So also did the demon- 
stration on the slopes of Olivet. So also did the 
alabaster box. It is hard to regulate the heart. It 
wishes at times to be extravagant. It is certain at 
times to be guilty of great enthusiasms. It is just 
these gifts of the heart that make the world rich. 
Our Lord refused to check the outpouring of en- 
thusiasm. He accepted the tribute of the heart. 
What a lesson is this ! If you have a good cause, 
give it your heart. Let the stones cry out. Let the 
hardness melt. Now and then forget the conven- 
tions even. Do something for Jesus. The worst 
of all robbers are they who rob us of our enthu- 
siasms. 



JUNE FIFTEEN 167 

Cfte Coucj) of BeO 

11 Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful counte= 
nance, and goodly to look upon." 

I Samuel 16:12. 

HE was ruddy and " fair of eyes " (so the mar- 
gin reads). Surely an engaging picture of 
Jesse's youngest son. Students of the 
body tell us that it is no uncommon thing for Dame 
Nature, mother of us all, to leave here and there some 
badge of strength, and both historians and teachers 
have often bidden us to look carefully after those 
who bear in cheek and hair " the red badge of cour- 
age." What an impressive scene it is! The youth 
with his clear eye and comely face, his purity and 
strength of motive, with his mind crowded with am- 
bitions, and his heart with tenderness, with the re- 
sources of his undeveloped nature, with his fervor, 
his romance, his initiative, his joy, his eagerness, 
his hopefulness, his vision — such a one coming to 
God to be anointed. " Arise, anoint him, for this is 
he ! " Oh, this is the meaning of this long-ago scene 
at the house of Jesse at Bethlehem — it is God laying 
his hand upon the fresh young spirit of life itself, 
upon the romantic, original, ruddy thing called 
youth, and anointing it for his service. He is silent 
and abashed now, but who shall say but that the 
early lispings of the Shepherd Psalm have already 
caressed his lips? So full of promise and prophecy 
is youth. 



168 JUNE SIXTEEN 

Wibv Wit Cake J0otl)mg 

" Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a 
draught." Luke 5:4. 

THIS is the challenge that many of us need. We 
stay too much in shallow places. We toil a 
great deal, yet we " take nothing." The word 
is — w Put out into the deep ! " It is just such coun- 
sel as was to be expected from the Son of Man. He 
is ever calling men to greater heights and depths. 
He pleads for breadth, for magnitude. The deep 
things of knowledge and experience — Christ chal- 
lenges us to put out into such deeps as these. " Oh, 
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the 
knowledge of God ! " Yet too often we have hugged 
the shore or lingered in the shallows. We have taken 
little because we have not let down our nets in the 
deep places of God's love and power. Think of the 
great deeps of the gospel — the love of God, the 
solemn glory of the cross, the wonder of divine for- 
giveness, the vital meaning of the Resurrection, the 
power of the endless life, the promised return of the 
Lord in glory. " Put out into the deep, and let down 
your nets." If there is a Christian anywhere who 
seems to have " taken nothing," the fault is his own. 
He has dwelt in the shallows. 



JUNE SEVENTEEN 169 

Cranstigttring IBeatttg 

" Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty." 

Isaiah 33:1 7. 

WE are passing along, with all our need and 
our sin, our yearning and our craving, our 
despair and our dwarfed and hindered 
splendor, and suddenly he is there — he is there! 
" Thine eyes shall see the King." Men do not find 
Christ so much by argument and logic as by need 
and by the quick vision of faith. His Face is there 
at the window as we go down the street. He is there 
among the people as we mingle with the multitude. 
He is there at the church door as we enter the sanc- 
tuary. He is there by the sufferer's bed as we enter 
the sick room. " The King in his beauty ! " — the 
vision of his splendor is not reserved to a distant 
future. No: it is for me to see him now by faith, 
and his beauty is a beauty " that transfigures you 
and me." What an uplifting truth it is — the truth 
of the Indwelling Christ, " Christ in you the hope of 
glory! " " Christ is all and in all." " Your life is 
hid with Christ in God." May it be our experience 
to behold the transfiguring beauty of the King day 
by day ! u We all, with unveiled face, beholding as 
in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed 
into the same image from glory to glory, even as 
from the Lord the Spirit." 



170 JUNE EIGHTEEN 

Cfte autfior of prosperity 

" He wauld feed them also with the finest of the wheat: 
and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee." 

Psalms 81:16. 

THERE are three Psalms, the eighth, the eighty- 
first, and the eighty-fourth, that are strangely 
described as " set to the gittith." These are 
songs of the vintage, for the gittith was a musical 
instrument in shape like a wine-press. These songs 
show the glory of God in human life. " What is man 
that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that 
thou visitest him?" "Thou crownest him with 
glory and honor." In this text the Psalmist is sing- 
ing " to the gittith " the song of God the Author of 
Prosperity. The finest, or literally, the fat of the 
wheat, with honey out of the rock — God loves to 
give the best to his children. He sends the early and 
the latter rains and fills the springs and the pools 
in the valleys with water, and lo ! a rich harvest. If 
we are contented in creature ways, with a plenty of 
good food, with safe dwellings to protect us from the 
rigors of the world, with clothing and books and 
loved ones, and with a thousand conveniences and 
comforts, let us not forget the Author of Prosperity, 
whose delight it is to give us the finest of the wheat 
and honey out of the rock. Let us not fail to sing 
our daily song " set to the gittith." 



JUNE NINETEEN 171 

JLfttfng Wimi 

" He that believeth on me . . . from within him shall 
flow rivers of living water." 

John 7:38. 

IT is our blessed privilege by faith to have the 
Living Water in ourselves. " The water that 
I shall give him shall become in him a well of 
water springing up unto eternal life." Make sure 
that the Living Water is in your own heart. It is 
not difficult to tell. It will be " springing up " from 
day to day " unto eternal life." The heart is its own 
best witness. Do you feel the " springing up " of 
the Living Water that is within you ? Do you know 
that God's love is in your heart, and Christ's cleans- 
ing is upon your soul? Blessed be God that we can 
say, " I know whom I have believed." 

But the Living Water must flow from us to others. 
" From within him shall flow rivers of living water." 
Is your life flowing out to the world in that way? 
Are you giving Living Water to other thirsty souls ? 
Be strong in faith, for this will help others. " He 
that believeth." Be a man or woman of prayer and 
intimate communion with God, for this will refresh 
others. Be spiritually minded, growing in inward 
grace and culture, for this will benefit others. No 
one can compute the value of a life that is able to 
send forth Living Water into the world. The closer 
we walk with God, the more helpful we are to men. 



172 JUNE TWENTY 

(Slorp in tfte MJfteat jftelD 

" And they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and 
rejoiced to see it." I Samuel 6:13. 

STRAIGHT by the way to Beth-shemesh came 
the lowing kine, drawing the ark of Jehovah 
after them, and into the field of Joshua, where 
they of Beth-shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest. 
The ark in the wheat-field! After all worship and 
work-shop are not far apart. Too many say — " Ah ! 
well, the ark is in the Tabernacle, but not yet have 
I seen the ark entering my wheat-field, where with 
sweat and pain I reap my scanty harvest." " They 
lifted up their eyes " — and is not this what we also 
need to do? The glory is here in our place of ordi- 
nary toil, but we have not lifted up our eyes to see. 
Is your work hard and galling? Has the glory de- 
parted out of your task? Let us believe that the 
ark is near at hand when tapers burn at high altars, 
and choirs chant, and long processionals appear. 
But let us also believe that the afk follows us into 
the wheat-field, and the work-shop, and the sick-room, 
and into every place where men and women are toiling 
and suffering. " By dint of laughing the roses 
open," so says an oriental proverb. And they who 
will come to a disagreeable task with a song of Zion 
upon their lips, shall see their toil bud forth and 
their sacrifice blossom. 



JUNE TWENTY-ONE 173 

Cfie age of Complentp 

** Except ye . . . become as little children." 

Matthew 18:3. 

THE age of complexity is here. Our fathers 
thought in terms of twos and threes, we 
think in terms of hundreds and thousands. 
Little boys and girls of a generation ago were con- 
tent with simple games. Nowadays the games are 
more complex — they must jump two ropes at once. 
The simple old ball-games, " one old-cat " and " two 
old-cat," have lapsed into disuse, and your six-year- 
old talks enthusiastically of " base-on-balls," " home- 
runs," and " three-strikes and out." It is a matter 
of no small moment that childhood has become so 
elaborate in its thinking. In almost every direction 
life takes on greater intricacy. The progress of in- 
vention is very wonderful, yet invention has its draw- 
backs. From the tallow-dip of our forefathers to 
the illuminated street of to-day ! — that is a contrast 
to make us pause. But if our fathers suffered be- 
cause their light was dim, we suffer because our light 
is brilliant. This in fact is one of the great dangers 
of a progressive age — brilliancy. Our lights are 
all high and strong. We forget how to be modest 
and simple and childlike. We are tempted to become 
over-confident and bold. The earth is not the Lord's, 
it is ours. We have conquered the air too ! Are we 
not masters of all things? In this way simplicity 
has gone out, and childlikeness, and modesty. God 
make us like little children again in our complex age ! 



174 JUNE TWENTY-TWO 

" And the Unfavored and lean=fleshed kine did eat up the 
seven weIl=favored and fat kine." 

Genesis 41:4. 

SO an ill-favored fault or a lean-fleshed habit 
will eat up the seven well-favored and fat kine 
of character. Have we not seen it many 
times? We have seen, for example, an otherwise 
noble character fairly consumed by a disagreeable 
fault of temper. It is astonishing and startling to 
see how the seven well-favored kine fall before the as- 
saults of the ill-favored ones. Resolution, self-re- 
straint, gentleness, kindness, love, religion, courtesy 
— all the well-favored seven are eaten up in a moment 
by the scrawny tribe of anger, wrath, blindness, con- 
ceit, selfishness, meanness, furor, hatred. What a 
lean-fleshed crew it is, but they fill the land with their 
raging. They have nothing to recommend them, and 
it is much to be wondered at that any man of reason 
would give them range of his life. They are devour- 
ing kine, living off the good flesh of character, which 
never fattens or beautifies them. No matter how fine 
a man's character, he can scarce conceal the ravages 
of the ill-favored and lean-fleshed kine of an ugly 
temper. When they break forth in wild mood noth- 
ing is sacred to them. They will trample the earth 
of the altar even and force their way into life's dear- 
est shekinah. There is but one thing to do — " Put 
away anger," 



JUNE TWENTY-THREE * 175 

©ID but I3eto 

" A householder who bringeth forth out of his treasure 
things new and old." 

Matthew 13:52. 

THINGS grow old of necessity, but we must keep 
them ever new. Love for example — love is 
very, very old, as old as humanity. When it 
came to you it was new, and it is yours to keep it 
new. In the beginning it glistened like a shining 
star. It was fresh and young and strong. It could 
labor from morn till eve. Has love grown old? Is 
love's visage marred? Is love's heart dull? Then 
you must go back to your treasure house and bring 
forth things new as well as old. Make love young 
again. Make love a servant again, but in new ways. 
Keep his hands busy, put zeal and joy in his heart. 
Give him the spirit of discovery. Let him invent new 
ways, new thoughts, new plans. Never let him be- 
come dull or decrepit. Things old! — yes, the old 
fact of love. But things new also ! — new manifesta- 
tions, new interests, new duties, new devotions, new 
eagerness. Never let the day come when there shall 
be no new thing to bring forth out of the treasure 
of love. Let every day have its surprises, let new oc- 
casions develop new zest, let troubles sweeten and not 
embitter. Let the long journey, and the hard way, 
and the strain of years but fill love's chalice more and 
more with things new and old. 



176 JUNE TWENTY-FOUR 

Learning to S>ins! 

" And they sing as it were a new song before the throne." 

Revelation 14:3- 

HOW can we sing the new song # there unless we 
learn its accents here? In a Christian home 
a group of persons was seated about a 
phonograph. Among them was a very old man who 
had never before heard the wonderful little instru- 
ment. At first light tunes only were played. The 
old man's face showed his astonishment. Then an 
aria from one of the operas was played, which added 
to his amazement. At length the instrument turned 
to the hymns of the church, and strange, woi derful 
voices from far away, yet also very near, were heard 
singing the strains of the Christian faith. The old 
man moved his chair closer, lost to all about him. 
At length a sweet voice was heard singing — 

" Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee " 

Then the old man's self-restraint broke down utterly, 
and forgetting his feebleness, ignoring his broken 
voice, and the presence of the company, he joined in 
the hymn and sang joyously of the nearness and 
preciousness of God. He had already learned the 
songs of Zion, and when he heard angelic voices sing- 
ing them they were not new songs to him, but old 
songs. If we learn to make melody in the heart here, 
we shall have no difficulty in singing the new song 
there. 






JUNE TWENTY-FIVE 177 

Cfte Dutp of (Encouragement 

" So the carpenter encourageth the goldsmith, and he 
that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth 
the anvil." Isaiah 41:7. 

THERE is much work to be done, and many 
workers are required. Some are to do strong 
and wise work as carpenters. Others are to 
do skillful and delicate work as goldsmiths. Still 
others are to do heavy work with hammers and 
anvils. Each worker has his place and his work to 
do. And there is one duty that belongs to all, the 
duty of encouragement. The carpenter must en- 
courage the goldsmith, and the goldsmith also must 
help the carpenter. It will not do for the carpenter 
to say, " My work is my own, and when it is well 
done there is naught else for me to consider." No, 
he must do his work with such a spirit of generosity 
and such a contagion of interest that the goldsmith 
shall be inspired also for his work. Every workman 
is in some way responsible for the work of others as 
well as for his own work. No man liveth unto him- 
self, and no man worketh unto himself. " Bear ye 
one another's burdens." If there is a discouraged 
workman alongside you in store or office or shop, ask 
yourself what you can do to strengthen him in his 
work. Perhaps it is a bit of friendly appreciation 
that he needs, or a mere touch of kinship in labor, 
or a word of outright praise. 



178 JUNE TWENTY-SIX 

Promptness 

" I am ready." Romans 1:15. 

; 



T 



[HERE are structural traits of character that 
are very needful in the kingdoms of this world, 
as well as in the Kingdom of God. Some of 
these are so commonplace as to be easily overlooked. 
Promptness is one of these. Napoleon remarked 
about one of his generals that he was the " first to 
awake on the day of battle." By contrast there was 
a king of England who was called " Ethelred the Un- 
ready." It is impossible to compute the amount of 
trouble that comes into this world through lack of 
promptness. How many interests are endangered, 
how many causes are embarrassed by the tardiness of 
men. Every community has its unready ones. No 
doubt they will die on time, but they have done noth- 
ing else punctually all their lives long. One would 
think that they would begin to be ready a day or 
even a week in advance of an appointment. But this 
would not help, for it is all the same whether they 
have much or little time. Apparently there is a 
screw loose in their time machinery. Their mental 
clock is not constructed on lines of punctuality. It 
does business behind time as a fashion of its career. 
The absurdity of the whole matter is that the un- 
ready person is sublimely and blissfully unconscious 
that he is a trial to all his neighbors, and a source 
of disturbance to the general world-plan of punctual- 
ity. 



JUNE TWENTY-SEVEN 179 

andreto and peter 

" He findleth first his own brother Simon." John 1:41. 

ANDREW and Peter! Sons of the same 
mother, and yet, in that striking diversity 
which nature often introduces into the same 
household, as different from one another as an agate 
from a pearl. Andrew was of a mild disposition 
perhaps, and not destined to prominence. Yet he 
was to win an honorable distinction, for it is re- 
corded of him more than once that he brought others 
to Jesus. Peter was a stormy character, who of- 
fends us by his faults, yet wins our admiration by 
his enthusiasm. He was destined to a troublous 
history, for there were elements of weakness in his 
nature, even as there were also great and solid ele- 
ments of power. When Jesus fully possessed this 
vigorous, virile man, Simon Peter, he became a flam- 
ing torch, a voice unhindered, a heart unpent, and 
there is little reason to doubt the tradition that at 
last he suffered martyrdom by crucifixion with his 
head downward, in behalf of his Lord whom three 
times he had denied. If Andrew was not himself a 
great disciple, it was given to him nevertheless to do 
a great thing — he brought his brother to Christ. 
Some men are called to walk in the shadow of larger 
personalities. Yet they have their work to do ; they 
live on in the lives of stronger men whom they have 
brought to Christ, 



180 JUNE TWENTY-EIGHT 

J^oto praper Liberates 

" And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he 
prayed for his friends." 

Job 42:10. 

PRAYER works wonders in the soul of him who 
prays. When Job prayed unselfishly for his 
friends, his own captivity was loosened. 
Prayer for others is ever an experience of liberation. 
The captivity of indifference, for example, passes 
away. No one can remain uninterested in his fellow- 
men after he has begun to pray earnestly for them. 
Prayer sows seeds of fellowship and friendship in 
the heart which quickly come to fruit. Enmities and 
hostilities, and hatred also, slip away when prayer 
comes into the heart. The surest way to cure the 
soul of jealousy is to pray sincerely for the welfare 
of the other one. The captivity of suspicion yields 
under the touch of prayer. The habit of criticism 
cannot survive the influence of prayer. If you are 
tempted to be censorious toward your neighbor, first 
stop and pray for him. The critical spirit and the 
prayerful spirit are at opposite poles. Try praying 
for those that persecute you. A deep sense of free- 
dom in the soul, a conscious experience of sonship 
of the Father, is the promised result. Many a man 
is bound in his own life because he does not let his 
soul out in prayer for others. The turning point 
comes when the soul loves and prays. Old enmities 
and bondages disappear. It is a new and beautiful 
era in one's spiritual history. 



JUNE TWENTY-NINE 181 

Cfje <$itt of §>peec& 

" Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." 

Matthew 12:34. 

HOW wonderful man is : first that he thinks, 
then that his thoughts may flow out upon the 
air in sounds, letters, syllables, words, sen- 
tences, orations, sermons. Sometimes his speech is 
as 

" Linked sweetness long drawn out." 

Again it is like the thunder in power or the wind in 
roughness. Again it is like a stream from the moun- 
tain, rushing, dashing, leaping, in the haste of its 
descent, or tinkling like bells as it drops in the 
waterfall, or resting quietly in calm and shadowy 
pools. The plainest speech of the most unlearned is 
no less than a marvel. Since the world began men 
have prized the arts of speech, and have counted it 
worth while to gain power and grace of utterance, 
whether in oratory, in teaching, or in conversation. 
A thousand of our joys almost can be traced to the 
gift of speech, which daily blesses us and makes us a 
blessing. How thankful we ought to be for the 
sound of human voices. A father sent his deaf and 
dumb child to a school, and after some months he 
went to visit her. The child saw him coming across 
the lawn and ran to meet him. As she threw herself 
in his arms, she spoke one word — " Father." He 
had heard the word before but never had it sounded 
so sweet to his ears. It was the " voice of his be- 
loved." 

ft 



182 JUNE THIRTY 

(SoD'0 JLfgftt 10 ©oots 

" In thy light shall we see light." Psalms 36:9. 

HOW often we rise from our knees saying, " I 
never saw it in that light before, and God's 
light is good." In prayer we bring our work 
to God, our successes, our failures, our troubles, our 
perplexities, not alone to seek God's help, but also 
to see by his light. " My eye and God's eye are 
one eye, one vision, one recognition, one love." The 
photographer seeks a " dry light," that is, an unin- 
terrupted medium. Prayer is the Christian's " dry 
light," where he may have a personal revelation 
about life. In prayer the Spirit seems to search the 
deep things of God for us, and we come to know — 
as otherwise we cannot — " the things that are freely 
given to us of God." " The Christian on his knees," 
says Pascal, " can often see farther than the philoso- 
pher on tiptoes." Prayer makes a new and clear 
atmosphere. The spiritual sky is, washed as by rain, 
and vision becomes sharp and strong. In prayer we 
commune with God — 

" The fountain light of all our day, 
The Master-light of all our seeing." 

" In thy light we shall see light." Let us carry our 
problems up into God's presence and see how his 
light will illumine their darkness. Let us bring our 
little disagreements with people into his light, and 
see how they shrink into insignificance. 






JULY ONE 183 

" Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a=fishing. They 
say unto him, We also come with thee." 

John 21:3. 

THE disciples were expecting to meet Jesus — 
they had come for that purpose. Notwith- 
standing this the first thing we hear from their 
lips is this very earthy and common thing, " We go 
a-fishing." Yet there is a very important lesson to 
be learned from their example. The poorest way to 
prepare for great things is to turn away from com- 
mon things. The great things are in truth most 
likely to come in the doing of ordinary things. It 
was while they were engaged in their common toil 
that Jesus stood on the shore and bade them cast 
the net on the right side of the boat. It is never 
wise to try to promote the spiritual life by neglect- 
ing common duties. The common duties, like the 
acacia bush that Moses saw on the mount, may be 
" aflame with God." Going a-fishing or sweeping a 
room may be the road to some deeper experience. 
Let those who are under the eclipse of great sorrow 
learn that the best way to bear the burden is not to 
sit down with folded hands, but to turn as coura- 
geously as possible to the doing of simple and usual 
things. God heals us in natural as well as super- 
natural ways. Many a man has been helped by go- 
ing a-fishing. God often hides his consolation in 
ordinary things. He makes altars of comfort for 
the soul along the common pathways of life. 



184 JULY TWO 

a Ringing i&eligion 

" Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and 
spiritual songs." Ephesians 5:19. 

SONGS come closer to the heart than sermons, 
and ofttimes closer than prayer. There is some 
old hymn of the church that always speaks to 
you instantly and irresistibly. Perchance it is your 
mother's hymn. Perchance it is the hymn that 
wafted some dear one out of the world, or the hymn 
that marked some strong event or crisis of your life, 
or the triumph of recovery from loss or defeat. Ours 
is a singing religion. We should sing not less, but 
more. Sing more truly, more feelingly, more rever- 
ently. Sing the soul into better moods. Sing the 
mind out of its sordidness up to higher things. Sing 
the world away from its sin and its care. Let psalms 
and hymns and spiritual songs run through the heart 
like water cleansing a vessel. Let the heart make 
melody within. 

" Songs have power to quiet 
The restless pulse of care, 
And come like the benediction 
That follows after prayer." 

If this world with all its sin and care is a world of 
song, that other world to which we are going will 
fairly burst with song. 

" The tides of music's Golden Sea 
Are setting toward eternity." 



JULY THREE 185 

Cfte O0e of Vacation 

" Come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest a while." 

Mark 6:31. 

IT is often said by those who deprecate relaxation 
in religious effort, that the devil never takes a 
vacation. Neither does our Heavenly Father 
ever relax his care. Yet Jesus believed in the value 
of vacation, for in a time of strain he said to his disci- 
ples, " Come ye apart and rest awhile." He even 
recognized the need of relief for himself, for when the 
multitude pressed him, he withdrew into a quiet place 
and rested from his labors. It is not a religious 
thing to do to work without ceasing. Vacation is 
reasonable and necessary. Whatever time is lost 
from work on account of vacation is restored in the 
quality of the work done later. This indeed is the 
chief use of vacation, it relieves our dullness. Men 
like machines grow dull from constant use, the differ- 
ence being that a man's mind is sharpened automat- 
ically by rest and change. The keen edge comes 
back again. The savor of life returns. Lost inter- 
est and eagerness are restored. Old things are new 
again, and life itself has a fresh aspect of vitality and 
attraction. It is truly wonderful how a fortnight 
on the old farm, or in the mountains, or by the sea- 
shore, or in the camp by lake or river, will freshen 
one's views of life, and strengthen one's grip on the 
handles of life. Truly Dame Nature is a bountiful 
purveyor of good feeling and confidence. 



186 JULY FOUR 

a 6©an ftOitj) a Cottntrg 

44 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget 
her skill, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
mouth." Psalms 137:5, 6. 

THREE loves every man should have, the love 
of his family, the love of his country, the love 
of his God. And let him place the love of 
country in the midst that it may be daily sanctified 
by the ties of home and the devotions of the sanctu- 
ary. A man with a country is rich indeed, for al- 
though he may hold no title deed to acres or front 
feet, he is nevertheless owner of a beautiful land. 
Mountains and hills and valleys are his. Wide plains 
and broad acres of meadows, and rivers great and 
small are his possession. Forests primeval belong to 
his domain, and farms and mines and lakes of untold 
wealth are his. East and west, north ancl south, he 
surveys a land of wondrous wealth and beauty, kissed 
by summer skies or caressed by wintry snows. God 
has given him a country, and none can dispute his 
right and title. Its landscapes are his. Its free- 
dom is his. Its institutions are his. Its hopes and 
prophecies are his. Its citizenship is his. Its flag 
is his. Its victories are his, and also its defeats. Its 
people are his, and its rulers are his friends and fel- 
low-servants. How rich is a man with a country ! 



JULY FIVE 187 

(SlPtging in tfte Crostf 

" Far be it from me to glory, save in the Cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

Galatians 6:14* 

LET us glory in the Cross — m the Cross! Not 
in what we have done, but in what Christ has 
done. Not in our good conduct, but in 
Christ's supreme sacrifice. Not in our personal 
righteousness, but in Christ's life and death. Even 
the best of us must clothe himself in Christ's right- 
eousness. The most finished character among us has 
no ground for boasting. Let us glory in the Cross, 
because it represents pardoning love. Our glory and 
rejoicing are such as belong to pardoned men, who 
have experienced the putting away of sin. " He 
hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
himself." Wherever men have looked truly upon 
the Cross, they have felt their sins slipping away. 
Let us glory in the Cross, because it is " the power of 
God and the wisdom of God." If you need power, 
go to the Cross. Your culture, your education, your 
wealth, your position — none of these can save. Let 
your whole trust be in him. Let us glory in the 
Cross, because the Cross of Christ glorifies our weak- 
ness. He takes my sin, my fault, my transgression, 
and touching it with his Cross, makes it redound to 
his glory, so that my redeemed life, my glorified 
weakness, shall praise him. 






188 JULY SIX 

Cfte ©race of Silence 

" A time to keep silence, and a time to speak." 

Ecclesiastes 3:7. 

THERE is a princely Christian habit of reserve 
in speech which may be reckoned as a great 
virtue. Many persons spend much time in 
studying what to say. Let us spend some time in 
studying what not to say. Among many prayers, 
the Psalmist utters this one about speech — " Set a 
watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of 
my lips." A Frenchman paid a significant compli- 
ment to his friend. " He had a great talent for si- 
lence," he said. When Charlotte Bronte had finished 
Shirley, she wrote, " May God give me grace to be 
silent until I must speak again." 

The art of gracious speech is difficult, but the art 
of gracious silence is more difficult still; the New 
Testament points out the perils of speech. It coun- 
sels " sound speech," advising to be " slow to speak," 
not to speak evil of men, to speak with love, to put 
away jealousy, bitterness and faction, to speak with 
grace, " seasoned with salt." Many writers have 
recognized with the son of Sirach, that " the tongue 
of a man is his fall." Old John Trapp averred that 
the tongue is set midway between the head and the 
heart that it might take counsel of both. It is not 
too much to exalt silence into a Christian virtue. We 
can serve God by speech, and we can also serve him 
by silence. 



JULY SEVEN 189 

" He sought me diligently and found me." 

II Timothy 1:17. 

REALLY it means, he sought me until he found 
me. This is Paul's tribute to one of his 
friends, Onesiphorus. He knew that Paul 
was there in the great city and he looked until he 
found him. What a spirit of perseverance this was ! 
Let us do our Christian work in that way : let us work 
in the spirit of perseverance and continuance, not 
stopping for obstacles, not turning aside, but press- 
ing on until the work is done. If we are seeking for 
a soul, if we are engaged in personal work for Christ, 
let us seek until we find the soul, seek with our 
prayers, for that is one of the best and most constant 
ways of seeking a soul. Do we not falter too much 
in prayer? We pray for a little and then we cease 
to pray, and the souls that we are seeking go on their 
way. It is because we turn aside and forget the pur- 
suit, that so many souls slip through our fingers and 
pass out through the open doorways of the world. 
Do not forget this lesson. Let us play the part of 
Onesiphorus, seeking souls diligently until we find 
them. Is there one of your own household for whom 
you have been praying? Pray on. Do not give up 
the pursuit. Seek until you find this soul for Christ. 



190 JULY EIGHT 

Dailp Victories 

" In your patience ye shall win your souls." 

Luke 21:19. 

PATIENCE is a monumental thing in human 
history. It is one of the greatest of the vir- 
tues. It has behind it the massive power of 
silence. Men who are enduring are not like to pro- 
claim it from the housetops. Souls are not won nois- 
ily. Often patience is a modest, shrinking virtue. 
It hides away in the lives of men whose backs are bent 
and whose hands are heavy with toil. One of the 
most sublime spectacles we see from day to day is 
that of men going to their toil in the early morning. 
It is only the commonplace spectacle of endurance. 
We have seen this silent force at work in the lives of 
pale-faced women who have families to support. 
How wonderfully they endure ! Now and then there 
is a crisis, and they go tottering and breaking to their 
toil. Nevertheless they go on. The story of how 
men and women go on in this world will never be told. 
No painter can paint the history of a soul's struggle. 
Motion pictures are very wonderful, but no motion 
picture is delicate enough to show the patience of 
souls. If you have a hard task to perform, look not 
to round it to completion between the setting of suns. 
Things too quickly done are often weak. Cement 
requires time to harden. 



JULY NINE 191 

g@ore Boom 

" Made . . . after the power of an endless life." 

Hebrews 7:16. 

WHEN the stranger knocked at Words- 
worth's door and asked if the poet was in 
his library, the aged servant waved his 
hand toward the lake and the hills and said, " His 
library is all out of doors." You cannot shut the 
mind of man indoors, neither can you confine his 
vital spirit to one world. This world is not large 
enough for the immortal soul of man. We need more 
room, more time, more opportunity. How often we 
experience a desire to break away from our limita- 
tions and go out into some greater library of God. 
Not that we have already attained, yet we feel that 
there are unused talents within us and undeveloped 
capacities that require a more favorable clime. 
What also of the mind's curiosity about another 
world? Shall we have opportunity to take up there 
the unfinished tasks of this life? Shall we be able 
to undertake those greater enterprises there that 
we have dimly seen here but have lacked the power to 
handle? No wonder that Kinglsey spoke on his 
death-bed of the great curiosity that filled his mind 
about the future world. The power of the endless 
life is in us. One of the poets speaks enthusiastically 
of death as " a laughable impossibility." There is so 
much to do we cannot perish. Tennyson spent a life- 
time with poetry, and wished profoundly that he 
might have other periods for music and art and his- 
tory. 



192 JULY TEN 

a JloaD for <£acft of 00 

" Each man shall bear his own burden." 

Galatians 6:5. 

WHEN he wrote this sentence the apostle 
used a word which the Greeks applied to 
the freight or lading of a ship. Every 
man has his life-freight or lading to carry. There 
is a burden in this sense for each of us, and much 
of the real meaning of life emerges here. No man 
has a right to ask me to bear his own proper load. 
Society is thrown into confusion when men begin to 
ask others to take their load off their shoulders. I 
cannot do your work : you cannot do mine. Each of 
us must take his own share of toil. He who will not 
take up his own burden soon becomes himself a social 
burden. Of this class are the ne'er-do-weels, and all 
men who shift their burden to other shoulders than 
their own. It is plain that we must go through life 
like a ship sailing upon the high seas, each one with 
his own freight to carry. In the lading of our life's 
ship will be found for each of us our share of work, 
our share of responsibility, our share of problems, 
our share of decisions, and even our share of sorrows. 
It is no inconsiderable thing if a man can rise up even 
with his burden of sorrow and say, " It is mine own," 
and determine therewith to be a better man. 



JULY ELEVEN 193 

Cfie J^igftet itato 

" Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law 
of Christ." Galatians 6:2. 

DOES the apostle contradict himself? Has he 
not also said — " Each man shall bear his 
own burden " ? Yes, but he is not speaking 
of the same thing. It is a different word even. In 
this case it is not the ship's lading he speaks of, but 
the heaviness, the pressure of life. It is the Greek 
word which has been put into barometer, the instru- 
ment that measures the weight or heaviness of the 
atmosphere. We might change the apostle's sen- 
tence — " Bear ye one another's heaviness." 
Granted that there is a load which each man must 
carry for himself, yet there is his troubje — the pres- 
sure and heaviness of life upon him — you must not 
be careless of this. It is here that Christ expects us 
to help. "So fulfill the law of Christ." In this 
particular case the application is to bearing the bur- 
den of the faults of others. It is true that each man 
bears the responsibility of his faults. But just here 
Christ's law enters. You must not leave a man to 
his faults : you must help him. " Brethren, even if 
a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spir- 
itual, restore such a one." What a strange, un- 
worldly doctrine, that we are responsible for one 
another's faults ! It means that we are to help in 
the building of one another's characters. 



194 . JULY TWELVE 

J^oto ©ID art Cftou? 

" And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days 
of the years of thy life? " 

Genesis 47:8. 

IT is a startling question : it grows more startling 
as time goes on. At first we would hasten the 
years. They move on laggard feet. Ere long 
we observe that they have quickened their pace. In 
due time we awake to the realization of the swiftly 
moving years, and soon we would gladly check the 
flight of time if we could. " How old art thou? " 
The question asks more than lies upon the surface. 
How have we used this rich gift of time? Have we 
remembered that the years were " the years of the 
right hand of the Most High"? "How old art 
thou? " The question asks about our use of oppor- 
tunity. Have we redeemed the time, or let it go to 
waste? Have we left marks of usefulness and grace 
upon the days and hours as they passed, or have we 
let them grow into years without giving them char- 
acter and standing in the sight of God? What har- 
vests have we gathered for the mind, for the memory, 
for the emotions, for the imagination? What have 
we done for the inner life? How have we believed, 
loved, desired, grown? What ambitions have we 
cherished? What hopes? What longings? "How 
old art thou? " The question contains the reminder 
of eternity. It means in brief — What preparation 
have you made? 






JULY THIRTEEN 195 

testis' ©ooo Cfteet 

" Jesus said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good 
cheer; thy sins are forgiven." 

Matthew 9:2. 

THIS is a characteristic greeting of Jesus. 
Here he spoke it to the man who was sick of 
the palsy. Further along we are told of a 
woman who had been sick twelve years — the one who 
touched the border of his garment. Jesus said to 
her, " Daughter, be of good cheer." There was a 
stormy night on the Sea of Galilee, when his disciples 
were wind-swept and wave-tossed. In such an hour 
a voice that they knew well sounded through the 
darkness, " Be of good cheer." And when he was 
about to leave his disciples and go back to his Father 
in heaven, his last message was the same familiar, 
enheartening one, " Be of good cheer." There have 
been many apostles of good cheer, but Jesus was un- 
like them all. He gave his reasons. He bade the 
sick of the palsy to have courage because " thy sins 
are forgiven." He told the woman who touched his 
garment to have cheer because " thy faith hath made 
thee whole." He said to his disciples in the storm, 
" Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid." And when 
he was upon the point of leaving the world he said 
to his followers, " Be of good cheer, I have overcome 
the world." Men bid us have courage and cheer and 
their words have an empty sound. But when Jesus 
speaks these words — " Son, be of good cheer," they 
are not empty. 



196 JULY FOURTEEN 

past jFittOittjj ©tit 

" Unto me . . . was this grace given, to preach . . . 
the unsearchable riches of Christ." 

Ephesians 3:8. 

PAUL was " less than the least of all saints," 
yet God had called him to preach. Is there 
not a thrill in jour heart, O minister or Chris- 
tian worker, as you read these lines? Yes, you have 
had trials and discouragements, but what are these in 
comparison with " this grace given to preach " which 
is yours? If your ministry is clouded, brother, sit 
down with these words and take the measure of your 
opportunity again. It is a measureless opportunity, 
for the gospel is a measureless gospel. " The un- 
searchable riches of Christ! " Literally, " the riches 
not to be tracked by footprints." How this phrase 
takes hold of the heart. No one has ever searched 
out all that is in the gospel. " The length and the 
breadth and the height thereof are equal." A life- 
time is not enough to learn it all. Said old Dr. 
Twine on his death-bed — " Now at length I shall 
have leisure to follow my studies to all eternity." 
Even in the ages to come God will still be showing 
" the exceeding riches of his grace." Men sometimes 
worry lest their money may not hold out to the end 
of their days. There is no need to be anxious about 
the gospel. But let us make sure that we are going 
deeper into the inexhaustible mine. 



JULY FIFTEEN 197 

Cfie potoer of !J>i0 mitt 

" If any man hear my voice." Revelation 3:20. 

THERE are many voices heard in the world, 
the voice of the orator, the voice of the 
pleader, the voice of the philosopher, the voice 
of the poet. But the voice of Jesus is different from 
all others. It is intense and urgent. It is not a 
casual voice, speaking in indifferent or careless tones. 
Neither is it a strident voice, like one crying in the 
streets. It is a clear, true, straightforward voice, 
speaking directly to the soul — to the feeling, to the 
hope, to the desire, to the conscience, to the will. It 
is an imperative voice. They said of him, " Never 
man spake like this man." Again they said, " He 
speaks with authority, and not as the scribes." The 
scribes had nothing original to say, they only quoted 
authorities. Jesus spake with an authority of his 
own. It is this that impresses us about the voice of 
Jesus: it is original, authoritative, satisfying. It is 
impossible to hear him and go carelessly on one's 
way with no memory of what he has said. How the 
messages of Jesus have stirred our hearts ! His 
voice has carrying power — it reaches deep into the 
soul. We do not think of Jesus as needing to shout 
his call. His voice is ever so quiet, ever so gentle, 
but oh! it is penetrating and far-reaching. 



198 JULY SIXTEEN 

Cfie iRigfjt to Bejoice 

"The Kingdom of God is . . . joy." Romans 14:17. 

JOY is part and parcel of the gospel. You can- 
not untwist the colors of the rainbow, nor can 
you take joy away from the Kingdom of God. 
" With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of 
salvation." There is a traditional saying about 
Christ that has come down to us from an early cen- 
tury — " He that is near me is near the fire." There 
is joy in the heart where Christ is. The soul that is 
united to Christ by faith has an inalienable right to 
rejoice. He has put a new song in our mouth; he 
has given us a garment of praise for- heaviness. 
Strange and wonderful anomaly, the Man of Sor- 
rows, " acquainted with grief," who tasted death for 
every man, has given us the right to rejoice. " Let 
not your heart be troubled," he has said ; " believe in 
God, believe also in me." Do you not feel the 
warmth of these words in the heart? He has opened 
the fountains of joy for us. " Rejoice in the Lord 
always : again I will say, Rejoice." Yes, say it again 
and again and again. There is not enough rejoicing 
among God's people. We have a wonderful Saviour. 
Why not have wonderful j oy ? " The Kingdom of 
God is joy — m the Holy Spirit" That is, it is 
spiritual joy — and this is deeper and more real than 
any other. 



JULY SEVENTEEN 199 

" God hath set some in the church . . . helps." 

I Corinthians 12:28. 

THERE were persons in the early church ap- 
parently who were neither apostles, nor 
prophets, nor teachers. They were simply 
called helps. What an interesting title they bore, 
and quite as honorable as it was interesting. They 
did not hold office, but an office was made for them. 
It is interesting to think of what manner of church 
members they must have been, to be designated by 
such a suggestive name as helps. No doubt they 
were not eminent at all. Their names are not written 
anywhere in the records. They were not leaders or 
administrators. Their part was just to be helpful 
in simple ways. I like to think that their special 
duty was to stand by the minister in the church and 
to give him loyal support and encouragement. They 
were thus direct and personal helps in the preaching 
of the Gospel. God understands that the work of 
the preacher is not easy. Therefore he hath set 
some in the church to be helps. You who read this 
New Testament word to-day, let me ask you whether 
you are worthy of such an honorable title as this? 
Do you give personal encouragement to your min- 
ister? Do you help him in the doing of his difficult 
work? 



200 JULY EIGHTEEN 

<25oB of tfte Sgotmtaing 

" I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains." 

Psalms 121 :i. 

WHY unto the mountains ? Because they are 
symbols of God's true and dependable 
character. " The heights of the moun- 
tains are his also." " Thy righteousness is like the 
great mountains." When we lift up our eyes unto 
the mountains, we know that they have deep founda- 
tions. The real strength of the mountains is hidden. 
Every great mountain, Ruskin reminds us, is founded 
on a hundred mountains buried out of sight. " In 
his hand are the deep places of the earth." God 
invites us to put our trust in solid and deep things. 
The Cross itself stands " towering o'er the wrecks 
of time," because of its " root among eternal things." 
What a rebuke this thought of the " abiding facts " 
of God is to the shallowness of our trust. A writer 
speaks of how the stars wheel to their stations in the 
sky, making " the poor world-fret of no account." 
What a spectacle of divine strength and quiet 
the mountains are ! " From whence shall my help 
come? " From the God of those strong and quiet 
mountains, from the God who made heaven and earth. 
We need not be " afraid of evil tidings," if our hearts 
are fixed, " trusting in the Lord." Let us pray that 
we may come to know the majesty and calm of a 
simple, undisturbed trust in the God of the moun- 
tains. 



JULY NINETEEN 201 

TBread to %paiz 

" How many hired servants of my father's have bread 
enough and to spare." Luke 15:17. 

IT was the thought of his father's surplus that 
brought the prodigal home again. " Bread 
enough and to spare." This in contrast with 
his own pinching hunger and desolation. 

It is the wonder of God's love — there is always 
bread to spare. Our Lord devoted two miracles to 
this truth. At the marriage in Cana of Galilee, 
where he " manifested his glory," the water pots 
were filled " up to the brim." When the five thou- 
sand were fed, all had " as much as they would," and 
yet there " remained over " twelve baskets of broken 
pieces. God practises no sharp economies with men. 
There is no parsimony in the Father's love. 

Bread to spare I This means that the divine store- 
house cannot be exhausted. We can come again 
and again. The divine hospitality is beyond all our 
dreams wonderful. No wonder Jesus bids his disci- 
ples go to the " uttermost parts of the earth." 
There is bread to spare — America, Europe cannot 
exhaust it. The surplus will supply India, China, 
Africa, the islands of the sea. I understand better 
now what is meant by the glorious gospel of the 
blessed God! I understand too what one of the 
apostles means when he says, " My God shall supply 
every need of yours according to his riches in glory in 
Christ Jesus." 



202 JULY TWENTY 

jFour pasters of s@en 

"Perfect love casteth out fear." I John 4:18. 

THERE are many persons whose souls are 
saved, who have not yet been delivered from 
worry. The only way of such deliverance 
is trust. " Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to 
pass." It is admitted to be difficult to live a simple, 
unworried life amidst a great complexity of affairs. 
Worry, Eret, Anxiety, Eear — these are four strong 
masters of men. Many wear themselves out with 
paltry worries of life, making their lives to depend 
upon the state of the weather or the price of wheat, 
fretting " about every heat of the body," concerned 
with w a thousand peering littlenesses." Worry is 
not of faith. It is the child of fear, and perfect love 
casteth out fear. God has something better for us 
than the thralldom of fear. He has the glorious 
liberty of the children of God. Restlessness is far 
too common among God's children. We are beset 
by all manner of fears. Thoughts of success and 
failure, thoughts of gain and loss, encompass us and 
limit our freedom. We live too much in affairs. 
" Things are in the saddle, and they ride men." We 
need something more — we need the realities of love 
and trust and faith toward God. Let us find anew 
the secret of rest. Let us make sure that our fellow- 
ship is with the Father and with Jesus Christ his 
Son. 






JULY TWENTY-ONE 203 

Prepared attstoers 

" Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet 
speaking, I will hear." Isaiah 65:24. 

IN one of the great jewelry stores in New York 
there is a safe that is furnished with outside 
doors of remarkable construction. They are 
so sensitive that even a light touch upon them pro- 
duces an electric alarm in a distant office. But the 
ear of our God is more sensitive than this, for he 
anticipates our need and prepares the answer in ad- 
vance of our call. " Before they call I will answer." 
Our Father is very prompt with his children. There 
is no tardiness, no long waiting. It is true that there 
is often delay in the divine Providence. For wise 
reasons our prayers may not be fulfilled immediately. 
Postponement is often necessary. 

Nevertheless the answer is ready. God has many 
prepared answers awaiting us, but the time may not 
yet be at hand to deliver the answer. He is willing 
and prompt to the point of readiness. More than 
this he is even in advance of our prayers with his 
supply. He detects the " asking eye." We do not 
need to ask for our daily food. Before we ask he 
gives it to us. It is so also with spiritual gifts. He 
is more willing to give than we are to receive. His 
storehouse is filled to overflowing with prepared 
answers, which are on the way to us before we ask 
for them. 



204 JULY TWENTY-TWO 

Caking Sip tfte Cross 

" If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, 
and take up his cross.*' 

Matthew 16:24. 

THERE is a cross for us, even as there was a 
cross for our Master. If our faith does not 
bring a sacrificial spirit into our lives, I fear 
that it has somehow gotten away from Calvary. 
What does it mean to take up the cross? How can 
we relate the sacrificial spirit to our common every- 
day life? To take up one's cross means to be a par- 
taker in Christ's suffering. There is a portion of 
Christ's suffering that belongs to us as disciples. 
We are to take our stand alongside the Master and 
enter into his suffering, not in the fullness of it, not 
in the tragedy of it, but at least in the meaning of it. 
And this is taking up the cross. So that when we 
turn to our life, we bring a sacrificial spirit into what 
we do. And you will see at once, I am sure, how the 
life of a true Christian is lifted out of dullness, 
out of routine, out of ordinariness, up to a true 
level of sublimity, the kind of sublimity that gath- 
ers round the cross. Religion is not worth much 
unless it leads us to take up the cross. " Rejoice," 
says the apostle Peter, " inasmuch as ye are par- 
takers of Christ's sufferings." 






JULY TWENTY-THREE 205 

Coo 9gucf) ^ocietp 

" Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them that were 
apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia." 

Galatians 1:17. 

A FAMOUS preacher thanked God that he was 
" stuck down in a quiet little obscure place 
to begin his ministry," instead of being 
"pitchforked into a prominent position." This 
young Christian, Saul of Tarsus, later to be known 
forever as Paul the Apostle, understood the dangers 
of too much society, therefore he " went away into 
Arabia." There he found time to think through 
his wonderful experience, and to prepare himself by 
meditation and prayer for the great work that 
awaited him. The work was clamorous, yet there 
was no time lost in going to Arabia. All of us need 
some solitude. The world is too much with us. A 
man cannot be forever in pursuit of a round of en- 
gagements, else he will lose something of value out 
of his life. Whilst we are " busy here and there," 
something is gone. Too much society, too many 
small occasions, too constant life in the open — all 
this is the ruin of souls. We need time to think, 
time to meditate, time to resolve, time to pra}^. Our 
Lord knew the perils of too much society when he 
said, " Enter into thy closet." Time spent in Arabia 
knits up the sinews of the soul, stores up energy 
within, and girds the mind for action. When the 
heart muses the fire burns. 



206 JULY TWENTY-FOUR 

tUtamtotmatiom 

" Transformed into the same image from glory to glory." 

II Corinthians 3:18. 

NATURE'S secret is transformation. She 
takes things humble, even unbeautiful, and 
gives them new forms and new values. The 
bulb becomes a lily. A shallow acorn cup gives birth 
to an oak. A measure of grain becomes a waving 
field. Science and manufacture have learned to imi- 
tate nature. How wonderful are the transforma- 
tions of chemistry. That black oil called petroleum 
that flows from the earth has a score of useful by- 
products. The magic touch of invention and machin- 
ery is changing the face of the earth. The Paris 
chiffonnier or rag-picker, armed with a long stick with 
a hook on the end of it, who explores dark alleys and 
forbidden corners of the city, is one of many servants 
of our civilization. In our time tens of thousands 
are busy gathering up lost fragments to transform 
them into use or beauty. The bone-heap was once 
a symbol of ruin. But science has made the dry 
bones to live like those of Ezekiel's vision. But none 
of these transformations of material are equal to the 
changes that come in men who " with unveiled face " 
reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord, and " are 
transformed into the same image from glory to 
glory." Old tempers softened, waste talents re- 
deemed, lost visions restored, useless lives made serv- 
iceable, abandoned hopes set on high — these are the 
greater transformations of grace. 



JULY TWENTY-FIVE 207 

Cru0t in <So0 

" They that go dawn to the sea in ships." 

Psalms 107:23. 

THERE are some situations where the sense of 
dependence upon a Higher Power becomes 
very keen. In ordinary circumstances we are 
tempted to become careless and thoughtless. Ex- 
traordinary situations summon us to the strength and 
peace of trust. Such are the feelings that men have 
when they " go down to the sea in ships." What if 
the mighty engines should refuse to move? What 
if the colossal palace of the high seas should break 
apart? What if the mysterious, merciless ocean 
should affirm its supremacy ? 

Questions like these intrude themselves upon the 
mind both on land and at sea. Our very helplessness 
invites us to be at rest in the divine protection. 
Machinery may stop, but God will not. There is 
nothing for us to do but trust the Heavenly Father 
absolutely. It is well worth while to come to a place 
where we realize our utter dependence upon God. 
George Herbert must have thought of this when he 
wrote — " He who will learn to pray, let him go to 
sea." It is the call of the extraordinary to rever- 
ence and calm trust. " These see the works of 
Jehovah, and his wonders in the deep." "He bring- 
eth them out of their distresses." " He maketh the 
storm a calm." " He bringeth them unto their de- 
sired haven." God is with us when we pass through 
the deep waters. 



208 JULY TWENTY-SIX 

Sentiment 

"And Jacob's well was there." John 4:6. 

WE are reminded that it is a thing to be de- 
plored to be lacking in sentiment. He who 
is devoid of sentiment goes through life 
with few romantic attachments and with little warmth 
of feeling. One house is much the same as another to 
him, one friend differs little from another. 

" A primrose by a river's brim 
A yellow primrose was to him, 
And it was nothing more." 

But a man with sentiment in his heart has warmth 
and light in his feelings. His affections twine them- 
selves about facts and places and memories of life. 
The " old home " will ever be dear to his heart, and 
old friends will occupy a place of their own in his 
love. Memory will recall early scenes and early lo- 
calities with fondness, and imagination will travel to 
far-away places. An old well or a stone wall, a vine- 
covered porch or a pathway in the woods, or so in- 
tangible a thing even as the sound of a church bell, 
will have power to hold the mind captive in hours of 
reminiscence. Alfred Tennyson tells us that all his 
life long he carried the memory of a wall of a school- 
building of his boyhood on which were clinging vines, 
and of a single line of Latin poetry that spoke of the 
sound of falling water. 






JULY TWENTY-SEVEN 209 

J^igftet anD jQearer 

" The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy 
heart." Romans 10:8. 

IN the Word of God all precious things are near 
as well as far. God is near. " Nearer than 
hands and feet, closer than breathing." Christ 
is near — " Christ in you the hope of glory." 
Heaven is near — " Heaven lies about us in our in- 
fancy." Eternity is near, like " the light of setting 
suns." This is what religion does for the soul — it 
brings all the great spiritual realities near. 

A pleasure party climbed one day to the top of the 
Rocky Mountains, and when the clouds broke they 
caught a glimpse of green valleys and smiling plains, 
and of the little city that lay at the foot of the moun- 
tains. " How near everything seems ! " they ex- 
claimed to one another. It is so with the great 
spiritual realities, God and Christ and the Holy 
Spirit and Heaven and Eternity. " The word is 
nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart." Far 
away, but faith and love bring the word near. We 
must climb the mountain-tops and look out. Eleva- 
tion destroys distance. Eternity is just over the hill. 
All the precious things of the soul are near at hand. 
Hold nothing that God gives at arms' length. Open 
your heart and let the magnitude of his grace in. 
The ocean can pour itself into a thimble, and eternity 
can empty itself into a soul. 



210 JULY TWENTY-EIGHT 

Cfie Ottaging Cimst 

" Thou hast the dew of thy youth." Psalms 110:3. 

IT is the eternal youthfulness and vigor of Christ 
that perpetually astonish us. No wonder that 
England's laureate addressed him in the lines 
of " In Memoriam " — 



" Strong Son of God, immortal Love." 



There is no decay or decrepitude about Jesus. The 
world waxes old, but Jesus never grows old. Plato 
and ten thousand other great ones of the earth are 
hoary-headed with age. Jesus is fresh and strong 
like a May morning. It is the note of strength in 
Jesus that strikes the heart. He is " the same yes- 
terday and to-day, yea, and forever." There is no 
weariness of the ages upon him. The bloom of im- 
mortal youth is about him. And it matters much to 
us to think of him in this way, as One who is never 
aged by his sufferings, never overborne by his 
burdens. He has a " priesthood unchangeable." 
" Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost 
them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he 
ever liveth to make intercession for them." So it has 
been all along the centuries with those who have 
touched hands with Christ in the work of his King- 
dom. The dew of youth is upon them : the power of 
the endless life dominates them. 



. 



JULY TWENTY-NINE 211 

attention! 

"Be sober unto prayer." I Peter 4:7. 

THE old reading of this apostolic counsel is 
" watch unto prayer." The bane of prayer, 
that which makes it bare and cold and diffi- 
cult, is lack of attention. The weak brother of 
the hand is the third finger, and the weak brother of 
prayer is attention. Traced to its source, lack of at- 
tention may turn out to be lack of love and trust. 
Never do we need the " arrest of thought " so much 
as when we are in prayer. If prayer is laborious, 
repetitious, vague, incoherent, meandering like a slug- 
gish stream across a tangled meadow, without free- 
dom, joy, or inspiration — and who does not know 
this distressing phase of prayer ? — it is because the 
mind is choked with obstrusive thoughts, or wanders 
unchecked in distant places. When you kneel to 
pray, remember that you are alone with God. Com- 
mand the heart to be still. Call the mind in from its 
wandering habit and require it to give heed. There 
is a gift of imperious resolution which every Chris- 
tian should cultivate in prayer, lest prayer may be- 
come a frittering, helpless mental exercise, that has 
no stronger support than the support of custom. 
Prayer becomes joyous when it is redeemed from in- 
attention and mechanical formality, and enters into 
the feeling and freedom of a realized fellowship with 
God. " Be sober unto prayer." Attention ! 



212 JULY THIRTY 

Concentration 

"One thing I do." Philippians 3:13. 

WE often miss the note of urgency in the work 
that men are doing. You will sometimes 
go away from a store feeling that there was 
no urgency about the salesman, no passion of interest 
and desire. You will sometimes have this impression 
about people whom you meet. They may be never 
so punctilious in their greetings, never so formal in 
their outward seeming. But all the time you are con- 
scious of lack of heart. The " apathy of anaesthe- 
sia " is upon them. There is no imperative anywhere. 
It is* a great thing to say about one's work, " I 
know," and it is a great thing to say, " I will," and it 
is also a great thing to say, " I do." But it is a 
greater thing than all to say, " I feel." We demand 
that men shall take their work seriously, and them- 
selves feel its weight and power. 

" A ruddy drop of moving blood 
The surging sea outweighs." 

Is there motive power in the work you are doing? 
Do you feel it for yourself? No matter what your 
work may be, is there urgency about it? Is it 
fraught with importance to your own mind? Have 
you any passion for it? Does it grip your own heart, 
command your faculties, inspire your forces? The 
best work that men do has this mark of urgency upon 
it. 



JULY THIRTY-ONE 213 

" Be ye kind one to another." Ephesians 4 132. 

WE are called to be comrades to men and to 
help them to knew the peace and power of 
God. A little bit of love goes a great way 
in a world like ours, especially if it be shot through 
and through with faith. It is uplifting love that the 
world needs, strengthening love, the love that comes 
down out of the high places into the lowly places and 
takes hold upon human need. 

" There are many kinds of love, 

As many kinds of light, 
And every kind of love 

Makes a glory in the night. 
There is love that stirs the heart 

And love that gives it rest, 
But the love that leads life upward 

Is the noblest and the best." 

Blessed are they who practise the comradeship of 
kindness to their fellow-men ! There is nothing great 
or prominent about kindness. It is no mountain 
rearing itself with lofty front before men. No, it is 
only a little hill. Nevertheless there is no hour in 
which it does not send peace among the people. 

" Lord, give me this to find, 
How to be kind — 
This heaven-born art 
Of thee a part." 



£14 AUGUST ONE 

Cfie (Eloquence of Dust 

" Who hath comprehended the dust of the earth in a 
measure and weighed the mountains in scales." 

Isaiah 40:12. 

THE mountains in scales and the heavens with 
the span! That is the argument from the 
infinitely large. The dust of the earth in a 
measure! That is the argument from the infinites- 
imally small. The mountains are not beyond his 
power. The dust is not beneath his notice. Scien- 
tists tell us that the blue of the sky and of the 
ocean is due to dust. Everybody has seen the float- 
ing dust in a sunbeam in a partly darkened room. 
If there were no dust there would be no sunbeam ! 
" All this unsurpassable glory of the sunsets we owe 
to — dust." Surely God is in his world. " In God 
we live and move and have our being." The Swedish 
botanist Linnaeus wrote above his study door, " Live 
innocently! God is present." He is ever at work 
making strength and beauty for men. " The dew 
of the grass rivals the splendor of the diamond: the 
bubble on the stream duplicates the grace and glory 
of the firmament." You ask me how I know that 
there is a beautiful Home above? I answer that if 
God can build the blue sky and the gorgeous sunsets 
of this world by the aid of invisible dust, much more 
he can build a beautiful home in the heavens for those 
who love him. " In my Father's house are many 



AUGUST TWO 215 

Cftanfe <5oO for Laughter 

" Then was our mouth filled with laughter." 

Psalms 126:2. 

BLESSED be laughter ! If there were anywhere 
in all the range of creation " a land of no 
laughter," life both here and hereafter would 
be less attractive. A home without laughter, without 
mirth and humor, lacks one of God's benedictions. 
Laughter dissipates many a grievance and prevents 
many a quarrel. Half our troubles and misunder- 
standings with one another would pass away if we but 
had the grace to smile in the face of them and melt the 
bitterness out of them with the warmth and light of 
good-humor. When next the temptation comes to 
be at odds with another human soul, try the preven- 
tive of laughter. In a land or a house of no laugh- 
ter physical as well as moral ills are apt to accumu- 
late. Physicians corroborate this. Old Dr. Hall, 
as wise in logic as in physic, used to prescribe a " pill 
of laughter," while " John Ploughman " affirms that 
we need not one doctor but three, Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, 
and Dr. Merryman. Laughter is one of God's au- 
tomatic plans for keeping us in health. Who knows 
how many fevers and humors of the blood, how many 
miasms and contagions of the air, are rendered harm- 
less by the hygiene of laughter? " A cheerful heart 
is a good medicine." Men are tempted to forget 
God's medicine chest. Thank God for the power to 
laugh. 



216 



AUGUST THREE 



Cfte Lato of O0e 

" But he that received the one went away and digged in 
the earth, and hid his lord's money." 

Matthew 25:18. 

THERE is much interest in the man of five 
talents and in the man of two talents. But 
there is tragic interest in the man of one tal- 
ent. This man who brought his earth-smelling talent 
back to his lord, saying with brazen courage, " Lo, 
there thou hast that is thine," is pilloried before the 
world as a man of impertinent folly. He had dis- 
regarded the law of use. The lord in the parable 
seems severe when he says, " Even that which he 
hath shall be taken away from him." He was only 
announcing the law of use. Use not and you will 
lose. An old legend tells us that Jesus and his dis- 
ciples were going one summer day from Jerusalem 
to Jericho. Peter was at his side. On the road lay 
a horseshoe, which the Master desired Peter to pick 
up. But the disciple let it lie. Jesus, however, 
stooped and picked it up. In the village he ex- 
changed it for a measure of cherries. When they 
came to a hill and the way lay between heated rocks, 
Peter was tormented with thirst and fell behind. 
Then the Master dropped a ripe cherry at every 
few steps, teaching him that things despised often 
come to unexpected uses. 



AUGUST FOUR 217 

accepting &tit( 

" But I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it." 

Jeremiah 10:19. 

THERE is the way of rebellion in grief, and 
there is the way of acceptance, and the latter 
is far better than the former. Even grief has 
its values, its hidden and undiscovered benefits, but a 
rebellious heart finds none of these things in grief. 
To one who rebels in sorrow, there is naught but a 
blank wall, wherein are no doors and windows, and 
where neither vines nor flowers grow. The way of 
acceptance is to say trustingly, " Truly this is my 
grief, and I must bear it." And this is the way of 
discovery. For when one makes a grief truly his 
own, it becomes sacred and wholesome. It enters his 
life, and becomes a part of him. It is not an alien 
thing, nor a thing apart. Moreover the acceptance 
of a grief causes it to yield up its best results. Its 
secret grace — for every grief contains grace as well 
as hardness — is drawn forth. Its " peaceable 
fruits of righteousness " spring to their fruition. 
Its inner wealth and healing begin to exercise their 
tender ministry. We can make little or much of our 
griefs. They may leave us unchastened and unbeau- 
tified, or they may strengthen character and make life 
more gracious. Much depends upon whether we 
really accept our grief. " Truly this is my grief, 
and I must bear it." 



218 AUGUST FIVE 



I 



Preacfnng Cftrtet 

"Whom we proclaim" (preach). Colossians 1:28. 

4 i ~\ N Him all things consist." He is the center 
of intellectual order. He is the Master, not 
of confusion, but of harmony. He is the 
Master, most of all, of spiritual order and harmony. 
He will put away spiritual discord. He will help us 
to break away from our misinterpretations, our mis- 
conceptions. 

" Whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and 
teaching every man in all wisdom." The preaching 
of Christ has to do with a number of personal things. 
If you go away from church with the memory of 
" glittering generalities " only, then I have failed 
to preach Christ. I must preach Christ so that we 
shall say of him what the Samaritan woman said: 
" Come, see a man who hath told me all things that 
ever I did." I must preach Christ so that we shall 
feel that he has looked in upon our evasions, our 
deceptions, our small practices, bur hypocrisies. I 
must preach Christ so that we shall feel our need of 
him more and more, so that we shall never be content 
to remain mere " stunted products of redemption," 
but shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of him. 
I must preach Christ so that we shall feel all his 
wonderful fascination, and the true attractions of the 
Christian life, and shall give ourselves more and more 
to His exalted service. 






AUGUST SIX 219 

Cfte S^etftoD of isolation 

" Enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy 
door, pray." Matthew 6:6. 

ONE may pray anywhere, even amidst the noise 
of cataracts and crowds. At such times 
" flashes of silence " will strike across the 
noise and we shall experience the divine Presence. 
But God's economy of prayer provides for privacy. 
God needs to have us alone. Prayer is not merely 
our opportunity, it is God's opportunity. In the 
Bible time after time we see God dealing with his 
servants alone. The great events of sacred history, 
the personal calls and inspirations, the opening of 
new vistas of faith and life, transpire in the times of 
solitude with God. Moses at the burning bush, Jacob 
under the stars at Bethel, Gideon at the threshing 
floor, Isaiah in the temple-court, Nicodemus in his 
night-time visit, Peter on the house-top, Saul on the 
road to Damascus — these are a few instances of the 
divine method of isolation. It is the method of 
Jesus. Nineteen private interviews of the Master 
with souls are recorded in the Gospels. It is even 
his method with himself. " He went up into a moun- 
tain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, 
he was there alone." It is in the closet God lays his 
hands upon us, and fashions our souls for his King- 
dom. Take time to be alone with God. Shut the 
door. Keep the world out. 



220 AUGUST SEVEN 

%t «tfll! 

" Stand thou still first, that I may cause thee to hear 
the word of God." I Samuel 9:27. 

WRITE upon the title-page of your own 
Bible, " Be still, O my soul, and listen to 
God." Why should Bible-reading be me- 
chanical and laborious? Why not joyous and vital- 
izing, full of buoyancy and expectation? We should 
be all attention, all eagerness, when we read the Bible. 
God has secrets to tell us, surprises to break to us. 
The naturalist wanders up and down the forest, lis- 
tening to the voices of nature, lying sometimes be- 
neath the trees, peering into the bushes, resting by the 
side of still waters, and filled all the while with the ex- 
hilaration of search, the joy of discovery. A 
botanist in the western mountains was gladdened 
not long since by finding a rare mountain flower for 
which he had been searching twenty-five years ! Why 
should not God's people search the Scripture with like 
diligence? What a land of surprises it is to him 
who in the love of God wanders in the meadows and 
climbs the rugged mountains of the Word, looking 
eagerly into its great depths, stooping often to pluck 
a flower, resting betimes beneath the shadow of some 
great rock, listening ever for the Voice that speaks 
to the soul, the Voice that can never be mistaken for 
a human voice. " Stand thou still." Thy God hath 
something to say to thee. 



AUGUST EIGHT 221 

Cfte COap of potoer 

"Commit thy way unto Jehovah." Psalms 37:5. 

ADMIT, Submit, Commit, Transmit! — this is 
the way our education runs. Put God over, 
and yourself under. Religion without sub- 
mission is like a tripod with a broken foot. A frac- 
tion -grows as the numerator increases and the de- 
nominator decreases. Increase your numerator. 
Decrease your denominator. More of God. Less of 
self. " He must increase ! I must decrease." Yet 
this is very far from being the self-effacement of those 
helpless and inhuman Oriental philosophies that find 
the climax of religion in annihilation. When we com- 
mit our way unto the Lord we do not lose self, but self 
emerges again with new meanings, new potencies, new 
elevations. The highest type of this self-submission 
is found in Christ, who was " highly exalted," because 
he " humbled himself " and became obedient unto 
death. The apostle Paul had had the experience of 
committing his way unto God, for he said, " When I 
am weak, then am I strong." It is ours to learn 
obedience as the Master did before us. And when 
we have learned obedience, we come to a new elevation 
of life, which represents no loss to ourselves, but an 
inexpressible gain indeed. Have we truly committed 
our way unto God? Have we gone like Isaiah into 
the Temple Court, and said unto God, " Here am I, 
send me? " The way of power is the way of submis- 
sion. 



ME 



222 AUGUST NINE 

OnappropriateO T3lt$$inQ$ 

" That we might receive the adoption of sons. . . . And 
if a son, then an heir through God." 

Galatians 4:5, 7. 

HOW anxious the apostle is to help these Gala- 
tians to see what they are entitled to in Jesus 
Christ. They are neglecting their charter 
rights. They are actually refusing to " receive the 
adoption of sons," and are clinging to an unemanci- 
pated state under the law. And this despite the fact 
that the Spirit has been crying, " Abba, Father," 
in their hearts. Present-day Christians need this 
summons to lay hold upon their unappropriated bless- 
ings as much as the Galatians. How many are still 
in bondage, having never come into the full privilege 
of their adoption. Mark the irresistible logic — " if 
a son then an heir." Heir to the " unsearchable 
riches of Christ " ! A man may be a beggar, so far 
as this world goes, and yet be in the enjoyment of the 
promise — " all things are yours*." Nor are these 
riches exhausted in this life ; in the ages to come God 
will show " the exceeding riches of his grace in his 
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." The heir- 
ship reaches out into the illimitable. In one of the 
Southern States a man lived with his family in a tum- 
ble-down shanty, with broken window panes and 
rickety fences. One day the oil-drillers came and 
found untold riches in his land, entitling him to large 
royalties. Yet he lived on in his tumble-down shanty. 
Are there not Christians who have never yet entered 
into their full charter rights and royalties in Christ? 






AUGUST TEN 223 

Cfie booing jQote 

** And after the wind an earthquake: but Jehovah was 
not in the earthquake." 

I Kings 19:11. 

EARTHQUAKES do not as a rule convert men, 
" A great and strong wind " is not of neces- 
sity a valuable aid to the Kingdom : nor can a 
fire, however great, be depended upon always to warm 
the heart to God. These forces of nature are power- 
ful and spectacular enough, but they are not winsome. 
Physical phenomena are not rich in spiritual effect. 
Niagara creates wonder in the mind, but Niagara has 
few conversions to its credit. Vesuvius is an awesome 
place, but one does not hear that volcanoes add to the 
piety of men. Earthquakes are strong, but they 
have a dull edge. They do not reach between bone 
and marrow into the soul. The soul requires softer 
agencies, which at the same time work deeper effects. 
Not the crash of world forces, not dead men's fears, 
not exhibitions of power — none of these are the main 
methods of God. But the still small voice — this is 
God's way! God's way with us is a spiritual way. 
His business is with the soul. Hence he sends the 
Holy Spirit — the divine wooing note — into the 
soul. It is not to be wondered at that the New 
Testament uses strong words about the Holy Spirit 
— " resist not," " grieve not," " quench not." It is 
a dire calamity indeed to drown out the still small 
voice, to quench the wooing note of divine love. 



224 AUGUST ELEVEN 

Cfte Margin 

" If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, 
wouldest thou not have done it? " 

II Kings 5:13. 

IF we are looking for help and peace from central 
things only, we are missing much that is in store 
for us. Many of our choicest blessings rise 
out of what may be called the margin of life. Away 
out at the edges of our lives there are things that 
are not great or mountainous at all, things that 
barely dot the landscape like little hills on the hori- 
zon, but that have to do with our peace as well as the 
great things. So many of us like Naaman are willing 
to do some great thing. We lose sight of the value 
of little things. We want the obvious, the prominent, 
the great thing. We look for explicit things. But 
life has many implicit things,, things that are not ob- 
vious at all, things that lie in the shadow, things that 
belong to the margin — and these also are a source 
of help to us. Do not overlook the marginal things 
in life: make use of the subordinate and secondary. 
How it enriches and enlarges our life to think from 
day to day of the unseen forces that are ministering 
to us. Blessed are the little comradeships of life 
that feed our courage. Blessed are the minor truths, 
the lesser personalities, the implied and indirect bless- 
ings of life. 



AUGUST TWELVE 225 

Cfte CfttlD anO tfie 8©att 

" When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, 
I thought as a child." 

I Corinthians 13:11. 

THE apostle adds, " Now that I am become a 
man, I have put away childish things." A 
child's education consists largely in the accu- 
mulation of facts and impressions. As yet there is 
little attempt at classification or interpretation. As 
we grow older or " become a man," we relate our facts 
to one another, to the world, and to God. We grow 
into the meaning of life and get our bearings for 
eternity. A child busy with the alphabet sees that 
certain letters will form certain words. Not yet does 
he understand the endless possibilities of language as 
an instrument of life. So with numbers. When he 
can count ten the pride of his heart is great. Little 
does he dream that all his life long he must be grow- 
ing into the meaning of one, two, three, four. What 
realms of knowledge, atoms and worlds and universes, 
are held together by this simple rubric of numbers 
that trips so lightly on the tongue of a child. Every 
common fact in this world is mystic and wonderful. 
Every day, every hour, we must be learners. " I 
carry the satchel still," said Michelangelo when he 
was an old man. 



226 AUGUST THIRTEEN 

Sptracle^ongertng; 

" He healed them all, and charged them that they should 
not make him known." 

Matthew 12:15, 16. 

IT strikes us at first as strange that our Lord 
forbade the proclamation of his miracles. It 
was because he wished to prevent miracle-mon- 
gering. He would not feed men with miracles. He 
would not develop the appetite for miracles. Feed- 
ing men with miracles is always a dubious experiment. 
To be sure the people like it: they run after it in 
crowds. Jesus understood the fascination of loaves 
and fishes. He did not intend to permit any ex- 
ploiting of his healing powers. The world always 
runs after a healer ! If our Lord had made healing 
his chief business, how different the story of the 
gospel would have been. It would have been the story 
of a distorted, a degenerate gospel. Its power would 
have been identified mainly with physical healing. 
The Christian society would have dwindled into a mere 
miracle-sect, and its spiritual doctrines would have 
been twisted and shrunken until they became mere 
medical formulas, prescriptions and recipes for bodily 
health. The Christian sanctuary too must have 
changed its character — it must have become, not a 
place of worship, of spiritual feeling and resolve, 
a place where men reckon with their sins in the sight 
of God, but a place in which men would reckon rather 
with their aches and pains. Beware of shrinking the 
glorious gospel of the blessed God to the measure of 
a bodily pain. 



AUGUST FOURTEEN 227 

J^olp ©round 

" Put off thy shoe from off thy foot: for the place 
whereon thou standest is holy." 

Joshua 5:15- 

MEN are so masterful to-day. Human enter- 
prises are so great. So many mysteries are 
gone or are going. Awe and reverence have 
become ashamed. So many things have grown com- 
mon that were once wonderful. We meet the diffi- 
culty in child life. One can scarcely surprise a mod- 
ern child. He has seen so much, read so much, 
known so much, that his sense of wonder is fairly 
sated. Undiscovered things are reduced to a mini- 
mum with him. His is the attitude of one who has 
always known. There was a banquet of the poets 
once in England, and the poet Keats arose and pro- 
posed an amazing toast — " Dishonor," said he, " to 
the memory of Sir Isaac Newton." When the others 
looked their astonishment, he added, " Because he has 
robbed the rainbow of its beauty." One can readily 
understand the poet's point of view. Science had 
analyzed the rainbow and it had lost its clothing of 
wonder. Beware of disillusionment! Beware of the 
loss of wonder! Let not the light of common day 
drive away the feelings of awe and mystery, of won- 
der and anticipation. God forbid that I should come 
to a state of soul wherein I could no longer feel the 
glad surprise of something new and wonderful in His 
love. 



228 AUGUST FIFTEEN 

Practising tibe iSearnegg of <©oD 

"Thou art nigh, O Jehovah." Psalms 119:151. 

THE Christian will need no argument to prove 
that God is near, yet he needs to practise the 
nearness of God. The best way to do this is 
to be diligent in prayer. In prayer the nearness of 
God becomes a precious reality, an experience of the 
soul. Prayer destroys the sense of distance, brings 
the throne of God within touch of the hand, within 
sound of the voice. 

A famous musician thought that one day's lack of 
practice removed his art a little farther away from 
him. A painter testified that continuous sketching 
made him less a painter : he must go back to his 
studio to learn colors and shade again. Something 
fine goes out of our lives when we cease to pray. It 
is the sense of the divine nearness. It is the ineffable 
Presence, the Shekinah of the Tabernacle, that no 
child of God can describe, and that no child of God 
can live without and retain the secret of his joy. If 
the Church stopped praying for a day, God would 
seem farther away — 

" The King of some remoter star." 

We often lose our joy by failing to realize God's 
nearness. We are like those who " suffer in sight of 
land," or like those whom Seneca describes in his es- 
say on Tranquillity, as not unhealthy, but as " too 
little accustomed to health," 



AUGUST SIXTEEN 229 

©it 6 lime jfatlttre 

" Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ 
Jesus." II Timothy 2:3. 

PERHAPS our crises come to draw forth the 
stoutness of the heart. Some break and go 
down under difficulty, but others rise and are 
stronger than before. Failure is not necessarily the 
worst friend a man has ; it may be his best friend. 
It may teach him a score of lessons that else he had 
not learned. It may enable him to gather up his 
wasted powers, to hold himself in hand. A life with- 
out some failure is too sure of itself. It is a fatal 
thing to say of a man that he always succeeds. A 
life of invariable success knows nothing of the growing 
pains of endurance, nothing of the " passion of pa- 
tience." The heroisms of failure are more wonderful 
than the heroisms of success. It is easy to go with 
the wind, but to trim sail and fight one's way into the 
teeth of the wind, oh, that is worth while ! There 
are some who, when they fail, fail sublimely. It was 
so with Beaconsfield, whose maiden speech in the Eng- 
lish Parliament only brought derision. Out of the 
pain of his defeat he arose to the height of patience 
as he cried out to the Parliament, " The time will come 
when you will be glad to hear me." He failed sub- 
limely. If we could but learn to take defeat as a 
tonic to the soul! 



230 AUGUST SEVENTEEN 

Bemember Caleb! 

" And Caleb said, Let us go up at once, and possess it: 
for we are well able to overcome it." 

Numbers 13:30. 

HE is worth remembering. When the spies 
were shaking in their shoes at the memory of 
" the children of Anak," Caleb, the son of 
Jephunneh, of the tribe of Judah, stood forth and 
said, " Let us go up at once : we are well able to over- 
come it." Blessed be the memory of Caleb, a man 
who never showed the white feather to the foe, but 
faced his difficulties and believed in victory. In fact 
he was a man who rejoiced in difficulty. Later on 
when the Promised Land was being partitioned among 
the tribes Caleb, aged eighty-five, asked for the hill- 
country where the Anakim dwelt! That was the 
measure of the man. So many of us are ready to 
give up before difficulty. We love ease and smooth- 
ness. We surrender to resistance. We tremble at 
the lions in the pathway. We go down before the 
giant Anakim. Caleb's motto was otherwise — " Let 
us go up at once." He was nothing daunted by 
difficulties. He thought evidently that the Hill Dif- 
ficulty is a wondrous discipline of character. A man 
can grow even as he climbs and fights. Too much 
ease is a source of weakness. Difficulty contains 
hidden strength. Do not give up ! Go up at once 
and possess it! You are able! Believe in victory! 



AUGUST EIGHTEEN 231 

jl2ot COants, 6ut H3eeD0 

" My God shall supply every need of yours according to 
his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 4:19. 

WHAT a beautiful and bountiful benediction 
to leave with the church which was the 
apostle's "joy and crown." It is as dis- 
criminating as it is bountiful. " My God shall 
supply every need." Not wants, but needs. On this 
subject of wants and needs we are likely to suffer 
confusion. Any one who will think clearly and 
strongly about his life is sure to find that many so- 
called wants have no reason behind them. No doubt 
God will supply many of our wants, but his principal 
concern is with our needs. His resources are illimit- 
able. The silver and the gold are his, and the cattle 
on a thousand hills. Is it not wonderful that God 
never tires of supplying our needs ? Day in and day 
out, year in and year out, he gives us our daily bread. 
Night after night we lay us down to sleep and the 
Lord preserves us. It is even more wonderful that 
he is able to supply our spiritual needs so constantly. 
A subject once remonstrated with his king because 
he had given him such a generous gift. " But I have 
given to you like a king," replied the ruler. So God 
gives " according to his riches." He draws upon 
the inexhaustible storehouse " in glory in Christ 
Jesus." 



232 AUGUST NINETEEN 

Leaking 73aQ$ 

" He that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a 
bag with holes." Haggai 1:6. 

MEN often think they are gaining, when in 
reality they are losing. This is what the 
prophet means by putting wages into a bag 
with holes. One who earns wages and nothing more 
makes a tragic mistake. When the wages are gone, 
there is nothing left. " Whosoever would save his 
life shall lose it." That is, a life of selfish gain is cer- 
tain to be attended by great loss. The truth is that 
we must save something more than wages, if we wish 
to have anything remaining over. How true it is 
that we cannot keep in any real way that which we 
gain selfishly. The treasure bag has never yet been 
made that will hold ill-gotten gains. The holes may 
not appear at once, but soon the leaks begin. Many 
a man is losing unconsciously. He keeps cramming 
the treasure in at the mouth of the bag, not knowing 
that the bag is full of holes at the bottom. The un- 
conscious losses of unspiritual lives make a sorry 
spectacle. Our Lord bade men to make for them- 
selves purses which wax not old, " a treasure in the 
heavens that faileth not." Such bags of heavenly 
make are to be had for the asking, and they are 
warranted to hold for us " an inheritance incorrup- 
tible and undefiled and that fadeth not away." 






AUGUST TWENTY 233 

Do gour *{mre 

." Fear not, but let your hands be strong." 

Zechariah 8:13. 

IT is the scriptural form of our old maxim — 
" Trust in God and keep your powder dry." 
We are invited to trust in God, but we are not 
expected to impose upon him. To rest in God does 
not mean to abdicate our own duty. God delivers 
us from fear, but he does not invite us to be lazy. 
" Let your own hands be strong." That is, do what 
wisdom and duty require on your own part. God 
is only the Great Partner; he expects you and me 
to take our share of the business. Trust God for life 
and health, and take every wise precaution your- 
self against cold and fever and accident. Trust 
him for food and clothing and other needful things, 
and put your own hands to the wheel. Fear not, 
neither be filled with anxiety, about the issues of life, 
and do your utmost to bring things to pass. There 
is always danger that trust may lapse into indolence. 
Men say very glibly that they trust God for every- 
thing. But ought we not to remember that God 
trusts us for some things ? " Faith without works 
is " — imposition. It is a good rule to pray as if 
everything depended upon God, and to work as if 
everything depended upon us. Our Heavenly Father 
is willing to help us to the uttermost, but he is not 
willing to rob us of the privilege of helping our- 
selves. 



234 AUGUST TWENTY-ONE 

^tittgrg hearts 

" My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." 

Psalms 42:2. 

MANY times we are hungry and thirsty for God 
when we do not know what it is we long to 
have. We do not understand ourselves. 
We think that we need more comfortable conditions, 
or easier environment, or better success, or more 
friends. We do not realize that our real need is for 
spiritual life and blessing. We do not understand 
that our deepest longing is for God himself. It is 
because this longing is so deep that we do not readily 
understand how real it is. It is truly the very life of 
the soul. This desire for God is the truest thing 
in our nature. The fact that it is often unexpressed 
does not destroy the reality of it. Times are sure to 
come, however, when we understand how hungry our 
hearts are for God. These are times of deep re- 
vealing of the soul's real needs. The hour of failure 
often brings such revealing. Then we see that it 
is not mere success that we need, but life — more 
life. The hour of sorrow also often reveals the soul 
to itself. When the heart is breaking, when the 
foundations of life seem to be passing away, we under- 
stand better than before how much we have depended 
upon futile things, and how much we need blessings 
from the living God in our lives. 



AUGUST TWENTY-TWO 235 

au minus 

"Jesus saith unto him, Follow me." John 1:43. 

IF Philip has undeveloped talents, Jesus is calling 
to Philip. If Nathanael has doubts, he is calling 
to Nathanael. If Peter has great weaknesses 
and great forces contending in his pent-up nature, 
he is calling to Peter. If John the Baptist has a 
rugged albeit an uneducated faith, and some fears, 
he is calling to John the Baptist in the very nature 
that is his. If any man has a struggle or temptation, 
or any history of his own heart that he cannot tell, 
or any secret longing of his soul, or any deep sense 
of need, Jesus Christ seeks him and reaches him that 
way — down deep in his own nature, down where the 
need lies, or the fear, or the doubt, or the sin. There 
are solitary places in the mountains that men seldom 
or never see ; so there are solitary places in life, and 
Jesus seeks us in our solitude, in our peculiar need, in 
our individual weakness or aptitude. Men will often 
say, " I seem to be different from other men : I am 
of another type: these things do not much appeal to 
me." But Jesus Christ comes to seek all men. 
There is nothing in you or in me that he cannot reach. 
And it may be no mere guess of ours that the twelve 
whom he called about him for his ministry represented 
every original type of humanity. 



236 AUGUST TWENTY-THREE 

Cent*Dtoeller0 

" Dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with 
him of the same promise." 

Hebrews 11:9. 

WE are all dwellers in tents. We have no 
continuing city, but like Abraham we look 
" for the city which hath the foundations, 
whose builder and maker is God." We pitch our 
tents here for a time only, as sojourners in a land 
not our own. It is true that we grow to feel much at 
home in our earthly habitations. The tabernacles of 
the flesh become dear and familiar. Yet ever in our 
hearts we know that our abode is for a time. 
Lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes as we 
may, we cannot make our tents permanent habita- 
tions. From time to time we hear the traveler's call, 
and realize that we must be on the way. Soon a day 
will come when we shall break camp, and go out to 
seek " a country of our own," a city which " he hath 
prepared " for us. It is not a far journey and we 
shall not fare forth alone. " I will be with thee." 
A great hope will buoy our hearts and we shall not 
fear. " For we know that if our earthly tabernacle 
be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens." We are 
heirs of the promise, and when we leave the land of 
tents we go to " a better country, that is, a heav- 
enly." 



AUGUST TWENTY-FOUR 237 

Cftree S©en 

" Behold, three men seek thee." Acts 10:19. 

THERE are three men that seek us all. The 
man of the past seeks us, and he has much to 
say to us. There are important lessons he 
would teach us. The burden of his instruction is 
that we have not yet attained. He humbles us, yet 
he inspires us. The man of the present seeks us, 
and his words are fraught with deep concern. He 
speaks eagerly and with marked insistence. He 
would not have us miss his message. There is much 
to do, and he summons us to be up and doing. To 
every man his work. The time is short. The night 
cometh when no man can work. Redeem the time, 
possess the opportunity. The man of the future 
seeks us, and his message concerns better things and 
a better day. He reminds us that there is a to- 
morrow, as well as a yesterday and a to-day. He 
bids us prepare against a future time, laying by in 
store, and building a house that will endure, when the 
rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds 
blow, " and beat upon that house." He counsels us 
to forget the things that are behind and to stretch 
forward " to the things which are before." He as- 
sures us that the future is the servant of the past 
and the friend of the present. Therefore is his ap- 
peal the strongest of all. 



238 



AUGUST TWENTY-FIVE 



T 



30b for a §>ong 

Who giveth songs in the night." Job 35:10. 

1HERE is never a night so dark but there is 
something to sing about. " Jehovah will 
command his loving-kindness in the daytime; 
and in the night his song shall be with me, even a 
prayer unto the God of my life." Jehovah giveth 
songs — if it were not so, there would be times when 
we could not sing. The world often requires songs of 
us when we have no heart for song. " How shall we 
sing Jehovah's song in a foreign land," a land of 
captivity and sorrow? But if my Lord gives me a 
song to sing, it is different. " He hath put a new 
song in my mouth, even praise unto our God." When 
God gives me a song, then my heart awakes. If he 
teaches me, melody will flow even though the heart be 
sad. It is thus that he giveth songs in the night. 
In the times when it is not easy to sing, when we 
have almost forgotten the theme of song, the Lord 
comes to give us a song. Ask him then, sad heart, 
to give you a song. Is it the night of shadow and 
darkness for you? He has a song for you, if you will 
but let him teach you to sing. It is a song of trust 
and peace — which the world can neither give nor 
take away. 






AUGUST TWENTY-SIX 239 

©cms of Consolation 

" Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, Son of exhorta= 
tion)." Acts 4:36. 

THE margin reads, son of consolation. If 
that be the true meaning, Barnabas must 
have been a good friend to possess. Indeed 
we know that he was, for we remember how he stood 
by Saul of Tarsus in his hour of need. The world 
needs many sons of consolation, for there is much sor- 
row here, and the troubles of men are legion. Be- 
sides it is a difficult art, the heart of man being sen- 
sitive and often quick to take offense. To be true 
and helpful, it must be more than words, for there 
is nothing so empty as formal consolation. Like 
Mendelssohn's " Songs without Words," consolation 
may indeed dispense with words, and content itself 
with silent attitudes and acts of sympathy. There 
are times when we can ill bear to be consoled with 
words. Language is too empty and futile for our 
grief. At such times if the sons of consolation 
would not try to say so much, they would be more 
helpful to the aching heart. If they would but tell 
us their fellow-feeling with their eyes, and their hand- 
pressures, and their nameless acts of kindness, they 
would earn our silent gratitude. They who know 
the meaning of sorrow by their own experience are 
especially called to console others. God comforts 
us in all our affliction, " that we may be able to com- 
fort them that are in any affliction." 



240 AUGUST TWENTY-SEVEN 

" Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down." 

Hebrews 12:12. 

EACH time I pass the post-box at the corner I 
rejoice at its cheerful message, for it says to 
me and to all passers-by, " Lift Up." There 
is a box on another corner not far away, but I do not 
care for it. In fact I seldom visit it, because it says 
" Pull Down." I do not like the post-box that says 
" Pull Down," and I do not like the people who " Pull 
Down," instead of " Lift Up." There are too many 
in this world who are engaged in pulling down in 
one way and another. It is quite easy, for example, 
to pull down with words. A man's reputation can 
be brought down from its pedestal by a few sentences 
of ill report. A fair name can be pulled down and 
left in the dirt by a bit of gossip. The world needs 
many more persons who will rejoice to lift up. They 
will lift up with their words and with their deeds. 
With their thoughts too, for our way of thinking of 
our fellow-men is a matter of great importance. We 
can pull men down by our way of thinking of them, 
or we can lift them up by our way of thinking of 
them. There are many kinds of love, one of our poets 
tells us, 

" But the love that lifts men upward 
Is the noblest and the best." 






AUGUST TWENTY-EIGHT 241 

jFulfilleO promise 

"The hills are girded with joy." Psalms 65:12. 

HAVE you never gone through the country in 
the late summer and rejoiced at the goodness 
of God? Everywhere there is the glory of a 
fulfilled promise. Already the fields have been 
reaped, and the barns are crowded with grain. God 
has " crowned the year with his goodness." The late 
summer rains have come and the fields are green 
again. The land is " soft with showers," and every- 
where the luscious foliage shows nature's abundance. 
In the valleys or on the hillsides the corn is ripening 
in the warm sun, and if you will listen with a sympa- 
thetic ear you can hear the fields sing and shout for 
joy. The pastures — how rich they are. God 
seems to have walked through the valleys and on the 
hilltops, and his " paths drop fatness." The cattle 
are on a thousand hills, and "the pastures are 
clothed with flocks." There is a great stillness in the 
land, as if nature had completed her task and were 
resting from her long toil. Yet the singing of many 
birds is heard. They too are singing a harvest song, 
and a song of maturity and of contentment. More 
wonderful than all else are the hills, that seem to 
look down benevolently upon the scene of harvest 
plenty, as if to say, " We have not failed to keep our 
springs open." Truly " the hills are girded with 
joy "; all about them is a land of rejoicing. 



242 AUGUST TWENTY-NINE 

Onto tfte Ottermost 

" Are the consolations of God too small for thee? " 

Job 15:11. 

IS he not the God of hope and of peace, the God 
of patience and of all consolation? Why then 
should his consolations be too small for any 
one of us? The heart knoweth its own bitterness, 
but our Lord is strong enough for every experience. 
If he maketh sore, he will also bind up. " He wound- 
eth and his hands make whole." There is no trouble 
of any man which our God doth not fully compre- 
hend. Verily in him we live and move and have our 
being. " Unless the hairs of your head are all num- 
bered, there is no God." Not a sparrow falleth to 
the ground without your Father. Not a soul is 
groaning anywhere that his ear doth not hear, and his 
heart feel. Are the consolations of God too small 
for thee? Hath he not sent his Son to say to us, 
" Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, be- 
lieve also in me " ? Hath he not given him to us, 
" a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," to 
bear our griefs and carry our sorrows, to be wounded 
for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities? 
Truly " the chastisement of our peace is upon him, 
and with his stripes we are healed." Nay, then, his 
consolations are not too small. " Unto the utter- 
most " they are sufficient for all men. 



AUGUST THIRTY MS 

Cfte J^ouse of tbe ©pen Doors 

" I have opened my doors to the traveler." 

Job 31:32. 

THERE is a habitation that I know where the 
doors are always open. Even though the vis- 
ible doors be closed there are invisible ones 
that are never shut. When the traveler approaches 
he sees "Welcome" written above the open doors. 
When he crosses the threshold and sits down within 
he feels himself at home. Light and warmth greet 
him. There is a flow of human feeling in the air 
that warms his heart. Gracious and unobtrusive 
hospitalities comfort him. There is no restraint, no 
embarrassment. An air of congeniality abounds. 
There is no effort to make conversation — it makes 
itself. A thousand topics of human interest suggest 
themselves in this fertile place, men and affairs, books 
and flowers, religion and politics, the present and the 
future. There are no dull brains in this house of the 
open doors, for as iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the 
countenance of man sharpen his friend. I love to 
enter this house of the open doors and feel the warmth 
of its welcome and the sincerity of its hospitality. 
True friends dwell there, who have taught me anew 
the meaning of friendship. They have interpreted 
to me in new and beautiful ways the art of human 
kindness. They have unveiled to me in fresh and 
wonderful revealings the depth of human devotion 
and the reach of human sacrifice. Thank God for 
the house of the open doors ! 



244 AUGUST THIRTY-ONE 

Cfte jFortoard Look 

" The set of their faces is forwards." Habakkuk i :q. 

THE prophet says this of a people who were 
bent upon violence. It were well said also of 
better men than the Chaldeans. We speak of 
a man's eagerness showing in his face, and this is the 
prophet's thought — the eagerness of their faces 
points the direction of their pursuit. Ought it not 
to be so with believers ? The eagerness of their quest 
should appear in their faces. Men should know that 
they seek a city whose Builder and Maker is God. 
The set of their faces should be forwards, not back- 
wards — upwards not downwards. But the set of a 
man's face depends upon the grip of his heart. " A 
man's reach cannot exceed his grasp." If we are 
holding to forward things, the set of the face will be 
forwards. Our look is determined by our faith. 
The forward look of faith is a mighty weapon of war- 
fare. To-day's battle is easier when the set of the 
face is forwards. The strife is hard, " but I press 
on." My heart is in safe keeping, and I keep my face 
to the front. What should me dismay? When the 
set of the face is forwards, temptation loses its power. 
Sin gets its hold upon those who turn to the right 
hand or to the left. Turning is weakness. The for- 
ward look is strength and safety. 



SEPTEMBER ONE 245 

KBJmt tfce Congue n3eeO0 

" He . . . touched his tongue." 

Mark 7:33. 

WE need to have the Master touch our tongues 
as well as our hearts. The tongue is cap- 
able of much mischief, but it is also capable 
of much good. It can create misery, or it can pro- 
duce joy; it can rob others of quiet, or it can add to 
their comfort. The trouble is that the tongue too 
often remains unregenerate even after the heart has 
felt the Master's power. It is often a rebel to the 
last. Let us ask the Lord to come and lay a separate 
touch upon our tongues, that they may become true 
instruments of grace and glory. Let us ask him to 
touch them with kindness. The world does not need 
eloquent tongues so much as it needs kind tongues. 
May the Master bind your tongue and mine with the 
law of kindness! Let us ask him also to touch our 
tongues with purity, so that they shall utter nothing 
ignoble, nothing unclean, nothing unworthy of the 
Kingdom of Light. And let us also ask him to touch 
our tongues with the grace of a spiritual message. 
In the morning before we go forth among men let 
us pray to have a sentence or word put upon our 
tongues that shall bring help to some one in the 
world. If we would but put our tongues at the Mas- 
ter's command! If we would but ask him daily to 
touch them for his use 1 



246 SEPTEMBER TWO 

Cfte ©tfter also 

" Then entered in therefore the other disciple also." 

John 20:8. 



rp 



"f"|"^HEN entered in therefore:' Why? Be- 
cause Simon Peter went in first and set an 
example for his more timid companion who 
had only ventured to " stoop and look in." There 
are some who are lingering upon the outside of the 
Kingdom, hesitating to enter. Like John they see 
" the linen cloths lying," yet they enter not. They 
are timid souls, afraid to take a decisive step. Their 
hearts are ready, but their feet linger upon the thresh- 
old. They need a bold example to inspire them with 
courage and bring them to an active decision. Is 
there not some " other disciple also " whom you can 
influence to turn to Jesus? It is a thousand pities 
for any of us to enter the Kingdom alone. Speak a 
strong word, give a hearty invitation. Let your own 
action be clear and bold. It is not only belief that 
men need, but inspiration to action. Can you not 
lead the way for some hesitant John ? " The other 
disciple also ! " May it not be that there is some one 
waiting upon each of us? Our decision, our bold 
initiative, our forward step, will help them to decide. 
If we are weak and wavering, their hesitation will in- 
crease, their decision will be more difficult. " The 
other disciple also!" What a joy to go into the 
Kingdom yourself and to bring another with you. 



SEPTEMBER THREE 247 

Cfte ^anctuarp 

" It was too painful for me, until I went into the sanc- 
tuary of God." 

Psalms 73:16, 17. 

THE sanctuary is not necessarily a place with 
four walls that has been dedicated to the wor- 
ship of God: it is any place where the soul 
finds him. It is not the place but the Presence that 
we need most of all. And truly the painful things of 
life are eased when we come into the sanctuary of the 
divine Presence. There we see with God's eyes, and 
learn with his reason and understanding. If you 
have a problem, O friend, which you cannot under- 
stand, a difficulty which you cannot fathom, take it 
to the sanctuary. That is, take it up to the high 
Presence of God. There the light is shining, there 
the comfort is abundant. It is a mistake to try to 
deal with our problems alone. There are so many 
things that are too painful for us — questions that 
cannot be answered, situations that cannot be re- 
lieved, troubles that cannot be overcome. Remember 
the Psalmist's experience — " until I went into the 
sanctuary of God." All the time we spend working 
alone at our difficulties is worse than wasted. In the 
calm of the sanctuary we gain poise and clearness. 
Strength flows down from the high altars of God, 
and consolation falls unbidden upon the seeking 
heart. " Take it to the Lord in prayer." 



248 SEPTEMBER FOUR 

a @>ure place 

" To give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may 
lighten our eyes." Ezra 9:8. 

ONLY a nail, but that is enough. For to have 
this is to have a sure place. Besides it is a 
nail in his holy place, where he is, and where 
his blessings abound. " I will fasten him as a nail in 
a sure place," said the word of the Lord by Isaiah. 
The Psalmist echoes the thought also — " My heart 
is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed." Thanks be unto 
God that he has given us a secure place, a Kingdom 
that cannot be moved. He who has a nail in God's 
holy place, let him not boast himself or be at ease in 
Zion, but let him rejoice with joy unspeakable and 
full of glory. Here is the secret of rest, for to be se- 
cure in God is to be at rest in the soul. And the text 
tells us something more. The place of security is the 
place of enlightenment and joy. " That our God 
may lighten our eyes." As one sits in a secure place 
in a familiar home and rejoices in the shining pres- 
ence of some dear one, so are we shined upon in the 
holy place by our God, until our eyes- brighten with 
celestial light and our hearts glow in a fellowship 
divine. 



SEPTEMBER FIVE 249 

Cftinfeing Cinngs OBlacfe 

" If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, 
think on these things." 

Philippians 4:8. 

THIS is a sorry and wicked world to one who is 
looking for badness. One need not travel far 
to find abundant evidences of the world's de- 
cline in virtue. Statistics are at hand to show that 
things are waxing worse and worse. If we are to be- 
lieve the philosopher at the corner grocery, the world 
is sadly out of joint. Everything is at sixes and 
sevens, and no man is to be trusted. Virtue is at a 
premium, and there are fewer each day who are will- 
ing to pay the price. To pessimists and dyspeptics 
this philosophy of despair seems quite unanswerable. 
But happily these are in the minority, albeit they are 
noisy. The truth is that the world is very much as 
we think it to be. It is easy to work one's self into 
an attitude of universal condemnation. We can 
readily think things black. In a- world such as ours 
we need rather to be always on the lookout for good. 
After all it is very abundant. " Think on these 
things." The margin reads, take account of. Have 
sharp eyes for virtue, not for evil. Have a quick 
perception for praise, not for condemnation. It is 
a better world the moment we begin to think so. 
Look for goodness and you will find it ; expect virtue 
and you will discover it. 



250 SEPTEMBER SIX 

JFalling in JLotie toitft @>tmpltcttp 

" Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to 
things that are lowly." 

Romans 12:16. 

THIS is an exhortation to simplicity — simple 
tastes, simple ambitions, simple ways. " Be 
not high-minded," that is, be not taken up with 
high things, like lofty place and great power and 
large wealth. These things and others like them may 
be well, but " set not your heart on high things." 
It is the peril of our day that men are apt to be 
taken up with high things. Never before has it been 
so hard to be interested in lowly things. " High 
things " have come in at the door and simplicity 
has gone out at the window. The apostle's ad- 
vice is very pertinent : " Condescend to things 
that are lowly." Only the word condescend is 
too weak for his meaning. What he truly says 
is, " Be carried away with lowly things," and 
this in opposition to setting one's mind on high 
things. Is it not a fascinating idea? To be car- 
ried away with the thought of living simply, to be 
enamored of quiet things and humble things, to fall 
in love with simple tastes and moderate ambitions, to 
practise simple speech and simple ways of living, and 
to have simple ideals of life itself — for an age that 
has its mind so much set on high things one cannot 
imagine a more attractive contrast. 



SEPTEMBER SEVEN 251 

Cfte ^allep of Decision 

" Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! " 

Joel 3^4* 

THE valley of decision is here and now. The 
place in which we live and work is the valley 
of Jehoshaphat — the place of judgment. 
Every day there is judgment. The scales are bal- 
anced always and men are weighed constantly. 
There is no outcry, no announcement of results, but 
the weighing goes on day after day. All that a man 
has — all that he is — everything must come daily 
into the valley of decision. Our work is judged, our 
thought is judged, our very character is judged. 
" Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision ! " 
The judgment is just and infallible. There is no er- 
ror, no flaw in justice. The judgment is delicate 
also, even to a hair's breadth. If this is startling, 
it is also deeply comforting. " Shall not the judge 
of all the earth do right ? " The pathways of the 
valley of decision are rugged and difficult, but they 
lead upward into the land of light. The law is our 
schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. The Cross is 
hard by the valley of decision. It were a deep sad- 
ness indeed to go into the valley of decision " without 
God and without Christ." " Yea, though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear 
no evil." Multitudes in the valley of decision! 
Multitudes around the Cross of Christ 1 



252 SEPTEMBER EIGHT 

Cftange gout ©arments 

"And changed his prison garments." Jeremiah 52:33. 

IT would have been a strange anomaly if the King 
of Babylon had brought forth the King of Judah 
from prison, and spoken kindly to him, and set 
him in a high place, but had not changed his prison 
garments ! Imagine the late imprisoned king walk- 
ing abroad in his prison garments. At every step 
he would be reminded of his long imprisonment. His 
head would droop and his hands would hang down. 
But happily the King of Babylon " changed his 
prison garments," so that the last vestige of prison 
life was put away. Are there not some Christian be- 
lievers who have not yet changed their prison gar- 
ments ? They have never put on the garment of 
praise for the spirit of heaviness. Christ has set 
them free in the glorious liberty of the children of 
God, but they still wear their prison garments. One 
might suppose to look at them and to hear them talk 
that they were still under lock and key. Why are 
they not clad in rejoicing? Why are they not 
wrapped about with glory? Why are they gar- 
mented with a heavy spirit? Let us change our 
prison garments. Let us speak and act as becomes 
those who have been set free. Let us wear, not 
prison garments of sadness, but the livery of the 
Kingdom, which is righteousness and joy and peace 
in the Holy Spirit. 



SEPTEMBER NINE 253 

CoucfteD hearts 

" Whose hearts God had touched." I Samuel 10:26. 

GOD touches human hearts, but in different 
ways. All his ways are the ways of the Holy 
Spirit, whose agencies are multiform and nu- 
merous. We have known a man to be touched by a 
sudden word, a surprise of language, as was Wendell 
Phillips when a plain preacher said in his sermon one 
day, " Young man, you belong to God." It is won- 
derful with what power of God even simple language 
can be charged. Many of us remember words heard 
in years gone by that still thrill us. It is one of the 
precious experiences that come in reading good books 
— we stumble upon a sentence that goes straight to 
the heart. Or the same experience may come when 
one is close to nature's beating heart. There are 
sermons in stones and books in running brooks. God 
can touch a heart by means of the lilt of a song- 
thrush, or a twinkling waterfall, or a carpet of moss 
or green fern in the valley, or a golden-red maple in 
autumn-time. Oh, he has many ways of touching 
hearts ! The pity is that any soul should live and 
walk in this world of impressions, influences, and 
dreams, of singing birds and smiling children, of 
" the good brown earth " and the starry expanse 
above, of thoughts and emotions and instincts and 
longings, and not have his heart touched by God. 



254 SEPTEMBER TEN 

a OJtDe margin 

" We are more than conquerors through him that loved 

us." Romans 8:37. 

IF a man be a conqueror, how can he be more than 
a conqueror? In the gospel this wonder comes 
to pass. Our victory in Christ is not a bare 
victory, not a mere armistice in which we hold a tem- 
porary advantage. We are conquerors beyond the 
peradventure of a doubt. The victory is beyond re- 
call, for " who shall separate us from the love 
of Christ? " We have won by a large margin, 
for Christ is with us against tribulation, anguish, 
persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword. " In 
all these things we are more than conquerors ! " 
We need a superlative word, such as super-con- 
querors, to express the high degree of Christ's 
worth and work for us. There is no meager- 
ness in what he has done. There is nothing shallow, 
nothing doubtfully sufficient, about his work. Who 
ever asks about the Cross with trembling uncertainty 
— "Will it last?" "Is it strong enough and deep 
enough to supply our need? " " Oh, the depth of the 
riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of 
God I " We have a rich and full salvation — broad 
enough to cover all our sins, strong enough to con- 
quer all our foes. " Thanks be to God who giveth 
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ " — 
not a shrunken "victory, not a victory with question 
marks and qualifying doubts, but a glorious victory, 
a victory with a wide margin. 



SEPTEMBER ELEVEN 255 

C&e Surplus of Creation 

" He made the stars also." Genesis 1:16. 

NOT only " the greater light to rule the day, and 
the lesser light to rule the night," but " he 
made the stars also." And what are they to 
rule if not the imagination of man? When he 
" bringeth out their host by number," the mind grows 
big with wonder. When the morning stars " sing 
together " the melody of the spheres, the soul learns 
to lean upon the divine magnitude. The stars also ! 
Are they not divinely appointed sentinels of our dark 
hours? As if our Heavenly Father were saying to 
us, " I will make the darkness light for you." The 
stars also ! Are they not the overplus of God's crea- 
tive love and tenderness, as if he would say, " The 
greater lights are yours, but I have added these also 
for your comfort and joy." Whensoever then we 
look up at the bespangled heavens, let us remember 
God's way of adding a surplus. He hath not dealt 
sparingly with men. He hath not built the universe 
upon a niggardly plan. We were looking through the 
astronomer's glass at a so-called double star. " They 
are millions of miles apart," said he quietly. How 
our imaginations leaped ! The stars also ! Yes, that 
he might keep our minds from dwindling, our lives 
from shrinking, that he might remind us always that 
there is more beyond in the power and love of God. 



256 SEPTEMBER TWELVE 

axtJapsitie Springs 

" He will drink of the brook in the way." Psalms 110:7. 

THEY were climbing up a steep gorge in the 
mountains. The sun beat upon their heads 
and they grew weary with the climb and the 
altitude. Presently the guide halted the party by 
the exposed roots of an ancient tree, and stooping 
down he reached beneath the roots and fetched forth 
a cup of crystal clear water as cold as ice. They 
drank of the brook by the way and went on with their 
climb refreshed and inspired. It is ever God's way 
to put hidden springs by the wayside. The greater 
the hardship the more comfort he hides away for the 
soul. If the law of the flesh and its weariness flour- 
ishes, it is that grace may abound in the spirit. Is 
the burden heavy and the back weak? Be sure that 
there is a wayside spring near at hand. Is the road 
long and the journey wearisome? Make certain that 
there is a brook in the way where you may stop and 
drink. Our mistake too often is that we forget 
the wayside springs. We cry out at the long hard 
road and pay no heed to the refreshing that God has 
sprinkled by the wayside. We bear our burdens re- 
sistingly and forget about prayer and the good word 
of God and the smile of his face. God intends us to 
waste some time wisely by stopping at the wayside 
springs. 



SEPTEMBER THIRTEEN 257 

M all M3ag0 

" Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all 
times in all ways." 

II Thessalonians 3:16. 



44 A T all times in all ways." That is a large 
/-% program which only " the Lord of peace " 
*• "^ himself can fulfill. " At all times." Times 
of desolation ; times when the soul is stripped of com- 
fort and support ; times when creature help has gone 
away, and even the heavens seem to be brass ; times 
when pestilence walketh in darkness and destruction 
wasteth at noonday; times when evil rages in the 
world, and the foundations of being are shaken? 
Yes, at all these times and more. " In all ways." 
Here is the real surprise of this text. Can there be 
more than one way by which the Lord of peace gives 
peace? Yes, there are many ways, and there is deep 
revealing in the thought. The point is that God has 
ways of giving peace. It is never an outright gift. 
One time he gives it to a submissive soul. Again he 
gives it as the reward of great faith. Again he gives 
it to one who has done his full duty. Again it is the 
result of hardship borne, or love that has overflowed. 
Again it is the rich substitute for things taken away. 
Now the apostle's benediction is that we may experi- 
ence all of God's ways of giving peace. Perhaps we 
have had his peace in some ways and not in others. 



258 SEPTEMBER FOURTEEN 

Cfiere mm J9o s@att 

" To cause it to rain on a land where no man is." 

Job 38:26. 

GOD'S care flourishes even for the wilderness 
" wherein there is no man." The rain and 
the dew and the sunshine fall upon the unten- 
anted forest. Flowers grow in abundance where the 
foot of man has never trod. Botanists tell us that 
the flora of the desert is wonderful both in quantity 
and variety. On the high slopes of mountains where 
the eye of man seldom rests there is found an Alpine 
rose that blushes unseen in the solitude. When the 
early pioneers came into our Western lands they 
found fruit trees growing here and there in a land 
where no man was. There was no man in the far 
West when centuries ago tiny seeds dropped in the 
ground and soon the giant sequoias lifted their in- 
fant heads toward the skies. Through many silent 
years they grew until men came and looked up in won- 
der at their mighty size. Great rivers rolled through 
silent lands, and mighty waterfalls thundered where 
no human eye beheld their majesty. Wild harvests 
came and went too as the seasons passed in the silent 
world, while giant forests lived and died in a land 
where no man was. God has always been preparing, 
fitting up earth as a dwelling-place for man. Pa- 
tiently throughout the centuries he watches over the 
empty wilderness, for one day the child of his love 
will come. God is love. 



SEPTEMBER FIFTEEN 259 

Ci)t0 Dap 

" O Jehovah, . . . send me, I pray thee, good speed 
this day." Genesis 24:12. 

IT is a new day, O Lord my God, and I look up 
to thee to ask thee to send me good speed this 
day. Thou knowest all the way, and I come to 
thee for strength and guidance for the day. My 
feet have never walked this way before ; the pathway 
is unknown to me. But thou knowest, and it is 
enough. There are duties that may rest hard upon 
me to-day. Send me good speed in the doing of what 
falls to me to do. Give me a deep desire to be faith- 
ful and an unswerving loyalty to the Master Work- 
man who portions out the toil to me. Let me not 
shrink or shirk or in any manner seek to evade my 
share. There are trials awaiting me to-day — who 
can tell? Disappointments, sorrows even and dire 
temptations, may be crouching at my door. Send me 
good speed this day, O Lord, in all these things. 
Make me strong and true. Make me eager for the 
right and trustful ever in my heart toward thee. Let 
me not be afraid, and let me not fall away. And there 
are open doors set before me to-day, doors of oppor- 
tunity and usefulness. O Lord of the abundant life, 
send me good speed this day, that I may go in and 
out with eager step and glorify thee. Amen. 



260 SEPTEMBER SIXTEEN 

Cfie "Burning J^eart 

" Was not our heart burning within us while he spake 
to us in the way?" Luke 24:32. 

DO you remember the day when your Master 
came to you on the way, how your heart 
glowed within you? It was a difficult path 
you were treading, and he spoke to you in your hour 
of need. Your mind was filled with grave questions 
and a nameless fear lay upon your soul. A great 
darkness covered you like a pall and you walked in 
the midst of deep shadows. His coming was like 
the coming of the dawn after a night of storm. With 
such authority and tenderness he spoke that his calm 
seemed at once to envelop you. Almost you seemed 
to see him lift his hands above your troubled spirit, 
and almost you seemed to hear him say, " Peace, be 
still ! " Then your heart was filled with an inde- 
scribable warmth. It glowed and burned as if it had 
been set on fire within. Never can you doubt or ques- 
tion him since that day. To all the literature of 
skepticism, to all the doubts of materialism, to all 
the indifference of worldliness, you have one invari- 
able answer : " Was not our heart burning within 
us while he spake to us in the way? " He who has 
made our hearts burn within us when we walked in a 
troubled way — shall we not trust him all the way, 
shall we not follow him to the end? 



SEPTEMBER SEVENTEEN 261 

I&fteelg anO tfte ®$mtt 

*' The spirit of the living creature was in the wheels." 

Ezekiel 1:21. 

A STRANGE vision of cherubim and wheels! 
Yet the interpretation is not far to seek, for 
the glory of Jehovah was over both living 
creatures and wheels. When the living creatures 
went, the wheels also went; when they stood, these 
also stood; and when they were lifted up, the wheels 
were lifted up beside them. " For the spirit of the 
living creature was in the wheels." Man can take 
dead matter and breathe his genius into it so that 
when he moves it will also move. The engineer at the 
throttle, bidding the wheels to turn and carry their 
living freight through the land — is not this Ezekiel's 
vision in modern form ? The spirit of the living crea- 
ture is in the wheels. There are higher interpreta- 
tions. When men take gold and silver and conse- 
crate it to useful and noble purposes, make it build 
bridges and dig canals and send ships across the sea 
and erect hospitals and establish philanthropies and 
found institutions — is it not the spirit of the living 
creature in the wheels ? " When the living creatures 
were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted 
up." Man is the master, and over him there is a 
Higher Master. Machines alone cannot make civili- 
zation. The mind of the master must first be lifted 
up — then the wheels also will be lifted up. 



262 SEPTEMBER EIGHTEEN 

Cf)e iftaOiant Jface 

" Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall 
thrill and be enlarged." Isaiah 60:5. 

THE promise was that Jehovah should arise like 
a light upon his people. " Thy light is come, 
and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee." 
Therefore let his people " arise, shine ! " They 
should see the glory of Jehovah and be radiant. 
" They looked unto him," says the Psalmist, " and 
were radiant." When Moses came down from the 
mount with the tables of the testimony in his hand, 
he " knew not that the skin of his face shone [sent 
forth beams or was radiant] by reason of his speak- 
ing with him." The Apostle Paul adds, " so that the 
children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the 
face of Moses for the glory of his face." " But we 
all," the apostle goes on, " with unveiled face, behold- 
ing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are trans- 
formed into the same image from glory to glory." 
These are the sayings of the Scripture about the 
radiant face. Why do we not arise and shine? 
Surely our light has come. Why carry a cloud upon 
the brow and dullness in the eye, when the Lord hath 
risen upon thee? " Thou shalt see and be radiant." 
But our God does more than put light in the face, 
he gives warmth and comfort within. " Thy heart 
shall thrill and be enlarged." 



SEPTEMBER NINETEEN 263 

Co $i$it 

" Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father 
is this, to visit" . . . James 1:27. 

TO visit whom? The fatherless and widows in 
their affliction. It is the scriptural rubric of 
need. Mosaic legislation provided that the 
tithe should be shared in by the fatherless and the 
widow. The Psalmist declares that Jehovah " up- 
holdeth the fatherless and widow." The word of the 
Lord by Isaiah was, " Judge the fatherless, plead for 
the widow." So the Apostle James affirms that pure 
and undefiled religion consists in part in visiting " the 
fatherless and widows in their affliction." These are 
the type of everything that is needy and unprotected 
in this world. Religion therefore consists in throw- 
ing an arm of protection about the world's weak- 
ness and sorrow. Was it not our Lord's teaching 
also ? " I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat ; I was 
thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and 
ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, 
and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto 
me." The quality of our religion is judged by its 
readiness to serve the unfortunate, to protect the un- 
protected, to minister to the sorrowing. " Pure re- 
ligion and undefiled is this — to visit" not one's 
friends and acquaintances, but " the fatherless and 
widows," the sick, the troubled, the unfortunate, the 
poor, the imprisoned. A religion that does not visit 
the needy is not " before our God and Father." 



264 SEPTEMBER TWENTY 

"Seeing only what is near." II Peter 1:9. 

WE are children of the far-away, not of the 
near. The things that are now are not to 
be compared with the things that shall be. 
We despoil our own souls if we see " only what is 
near." Christians grow near-sighted by too much 
looking at things that are near. They need to prac- 
tise the far-sighted art. The promises are not yet 
complete. Like the fathers we " see them and greet 
them from afar." Our gift of far sight brings them 
near. " The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in 
thy heart." Moses endured " as seeing him who is 
invisible." He saw not only what was near, he looked 
up and beyond. Like Isaiah he " saw the Lord sit- 
ting upon a throne high and lifted up." " Unto 
thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that sittest in the 
heavens." Faith is ever far-sighted. It looks 
through the mist and the veil unto the far-away. 
It is " a conviction of things not seen." We must 
see something more than the home that is near. We 
have " a house not made with hands." Our eyes are 
being trained to see the walls of a far-away city. 
We " desire a better country, that is, a heavenly." 
Let us have a care lest we look too much upon " what 
is near," and lose our gift of far sight for the things 
that are to come. 



SEPTEMBER TWENTY-ONE 265 

SJntoelcome ^acfeclotft 

" None might enter within the king's gate clothed with 
sackcloth." Esther 4:2. 

MORDECAI might go out into the midst of the 
city and cry with a loud and bitter cry. He 
might even come before the king's gate, but 
he could not enter within the gate. He was clothed 
with sackcloth! That is, he had upon him the sign 
of mourning, and the king on his throne would have 
none of this. It was not so much the sackcloth 
that was forbidden as it was the thing it represented 
— sorrow. The king thought to close his gates 
against sorrow. Let no reminder even of human 
mourning come within the king's gate. Let the king 
live apart from sorrow and never learn of the pain 
and suffering of the world. But no man can shut his 
gates against sorrow. It comes unbidden. Sooner 
or later sackcloth must be seen even by the king. 
Royal power is no barrier against suffering. All the 
king's officers cannot prevent the entrance of pain. 
It is a profound truth that no man can wisely close 
his life against sorrow. It is better to accept it when 
it comes, and give it what welcome we can. We 
may even change the sackcloth into a thing of grace 
and beauty and wear it to the glory of God. We 
may turn the blackness into brightness and cause 
it to bring light to other men. 



266 SEPTEMBER TWENTY-TWO 

Cfte Cratoelet'0 psalm 

" Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in." 

Psalms T.21 :8. 

IT is often called the Traveler's Psalm, because 
it deals with the footpath and the journey and 
our Heavenly Keeper who " will neither slumber 
nor sleep." When you are going upon a journey, 
and know not the issue thereof, take this One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-first Psalm often as a tonic by the 
way. It is its atmosphere of large providence and 
protection that comforts us. " My help cometh from 
Jehovah who made heaven and earth." My God is 
no provincial divinity. His suzerainty is not lim- 
ited, his realm is not confined. " Heaven and earth " 
— surely this is broad enough. But may it not be 
too broad? May I not be lost in the magnitude of 
things ? No ; his care is personal after all. " He 
will not suffer thy foot to be moved." Every sep- 
arate pathway is known unto him — all its rigor, all 
its pitfalls. " He that keepeth thee will not slum- 
ber." How it comforts the traveler, when he lays 
himself down to rest in a strange place, to know that 
God is awake. 

" Now I lay me down to sleep, 
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep." 

Yes, " he will keep thy soul." Give thyself into 
his care. Lay thyself down in peace and sleep, O 
traveler on the way, and fear not, for he will keep thy 
going out and thy coming in — for evermore ! 



SEPTEMBER TWENTY-THREE 267 



Ct)i0 10 tfte Dap 



" This is the day which Jehovah hath made." 

Psalms 118:24. 



rrv 



4 'f I ^HIS is the day." Jehovah made it, and it is 
not to be despised or overlooked. It bears 
upon it all the marks of the best day in hu- 
man history. It comes from his creative hand un- 
sullied, unbroken, untouched. It is a gift to you 
from him whose gifts are ever new and wonderful. 
Have a care lest it suffer, lest it be tarnished or mu- 
tilated in your hands. It is a thing of life, instinct 
with hope and opportunity; let it not grow dull and 
vapid, let it not fall to the ground like a broken thing. 
God made it to be an open door. See that it shall 
not become a prison-house. He hid within it won- 
drous powers of transformation, leaving you to make 
it grand or serious or joyous, or just magnificently 
simple. This day is yours — it is yours to make it 
what you will. God grant that you may not mar it 
or limit it or clip its wings. No man can be deemed 
poor who has received the gift of a day. It is time 
enough to climb a few more steps of the golden stair- 
way. It is time enough to serve one's fellow-man. 
It is time enough to fight a good fight in the battle 
of life. It is time enough to follow the Master in 
the way he leads. " This is the day." 



268 SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FOUR 

Cfce pat!) of Lig&t 

" Light is sown for the righteous." Psalms 97:11. 

WE are not made to fly. We have to walk. 
Therefore God puts light on the dusty 
pathway. He sows light as seed, so that 
as we walk the light springs forth. At the beginning 
of the way the light may seem dim. It has been sown, 
but it has not yet come forth. Keep on ! " Thy 
light shall be clearer than the noonday." God sows 
light upon the way, but the harvest is not reaped all 
at once. It is a gradual, an increasing harvest. 
" The path of the righteous is as the dawning light, 
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 
We are children of the light, not of the darkness. 
God has gone before us on the way and sown the 
seeds of light. Do not falter; it will spring forth. 
" Walk in the light." There are pitfalls on the way. 
" Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto 
my path." We do not so much need to see the light 
as just to walk in the light. For this reason he 
has sown light, that it may grow up about our feet 
upon the way. It is a gracious experience of the 
divine goodness to walk where God has sown. At 
every step the way grows brighter — " unto the per- 
fect day." 



SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIVE 269 

<8>ito S@e Difficult? 

" Now therefore give me this hiII=country." 

Joshua 14:12. 

IT is the voice of Caleb, the sturdy warrior who 
long before cried out to Israel, " Let us go up 
and possess the land." He is an old man, but 
" as my strength was then, even so is my strength 
now, for war, and to go out and to come in." Hear 
the voice of courage, " Now therefore give me this 
hill-country." Give me not ease — give me difficulty. 
Who wants an easy life? Who wants to be borne 
upon silken couches, or lie among a bed of roses? 
Who would not have some rigors upon the way, some 
valleys to descend, some steep hills to climb? 
" Give me this hill-country." It is the voice of one 
who rejoices in the ascending way, in breath that 
comes and goes, in muscles strained and blood aglow. 
Give me difficulty, for it is this that draws forth my 
best, that makes me eager, strong, and justly pas- 
sionate. Give me difficulty, that I may grow by en- 
deavor and become trustful by discipline, and that I 
may not fall into the weakness and paltriness of an 
easy life. Give me difficulty, that I may be worthy 
of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the soul's great- 
est venture and largest enterprise. " Give me this 
hill-country ! " For the hilltops after all are kissed 
by God's sunlight and bathed by his love. 



270 SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SIX 

Cfte jftarroto G3ap 

" For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that 
leadeth unto life." Matthew 7:14. 

NARROW in the sense that they who enter must 
shrink. " If any man would come after me, 
let him deny himself." " Lessen your denomi- 
nator," said Carlyle. A bulging soul, full of self 
and self-seeking, will find no comfort in the narrow 
way. " He must increase, but I must decrease." If 
a man vaunt himself, or is puffed up, or vain in his 
own conceit, troubles await him. His conceit will 
suffer pressure on every side. There is one law of 
entrance upon the narrow way — surrender. Nar- 
row too in the sense that there are some things that 
must be left behind. There is no room for worldly 
baggage. Put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, 
railing, shameful speaking, out of your mouth. " Put 
off the old man with his doings." One must travel 
light on the narrow way. The unencumbered find 
the going easy, but they who have much to carry are 
soon overborne. Let us " lay aside every weight, 
and the sin which doth so easily beset us." But 
narrow also in the sense that the way is well marked, 
and he who went before has left his footprints on the 
way and the fragrance of his person in the air. 

..." Narrow ways are well to tread 
When there's moss beneath the footsteps, honeysuckle 
overhead," 



SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SEVEN 271 

Cfte Scarlet Mint 

" And she bound the scarlet line in the window." 

Joshua 2:21. 

IS the scarlet line hanging from the window of 
jour house? Have you washed and made your- 
self clean in the blood of the Lamb? Are you 
trusting in his atoning grace and rejoicing in the 
cleansing stream of Calvary? Have you bound the 
scarlet line in the window as a badge of redeeming 
love ? Is your house marked with red — the redness 
of his sacrifice — so that the destroyer will pass by ? 
Happy are they who bear about them " the marks of 
Jesus." None shall trouble them or make them 
afraid. Is the scarlet line hanging from your win- 
dow as a testimony to other men? Do the passers-by 
look up and see the sign of redeemed souls upon your 
dwelling? Is your house a marked house — marked 
with the symbol of faith ? Can you say, " I am not 
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God 
unto salvation " ? Are you careful to proclaim the 
gospel to the wayfarer, so that he may read and run? 
Blessed are they who lift up the Cross before their 
fellow-men, who hang the symbol of salvation in their 
window. If your house has been visited by Jesus 
Christ of Calvary, and salvation has come to you, 
make sure that the scarlet thread hangs in the win- 
dow as a sign to other men. 



272 SEPTEMBER TWENTY-EIGHT 

Cfte TStst 

" Out of all your gifts ye shall offer ... the best." 

Numbers 18:29. 

GOD is not anxious about quantity, but he 
demands quality. Inferior portions do not 
make suitable offerings. The best is none 
too good. Offer the best — it is a good principle 
to follow everywhere. One who falls into the habit 
of doing things only half well suffers a deterioration 
in character that is pitiful. His sense of fitness, 
for example, grows less delicate. He does his work 
poorly, and does not realize the shame of it. All 
the while his own moral fiber is becoming weaker 
and less masterful. His spiritual being begins to 
falter and sag. No man can go on day after day 
doing poor work without going down in the scale 
of nature. Nature resents inferior service and 
strikes back at the worker. He is branded as one 
who cheats in the game of life. Himself he de- 
ludes more than any other, for none are so deluded 
as they who fail to do their best in the work of 
life. The very spirit of reverence is shown in doing 
one's best. " There is always a best way of doing 
everything, if it be to boil an egg." One's best 
in a little thing is a real contribution to the sum of 
truth and being. 



SEPTEMBER TWENTY-NINE 273 

Cfte Cftam&er of peace 

" Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you." 

John 14:27. 

WERE ever sweeter words than these spoken 
to the heart of man? For if there be one 
thing that the heart deeply craves it is 
peace, and the world has no gift of this kind to 
make. " Not as the world giveth, give I unto 
you." Christ speaks of " my peace." " We have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
'It is the peace of his own deep courage and quiet 
self-possession which he gives. " Peace, be still ! " 
When the storm is about us, let us hear his true 
voice giving us his benediction of peace. A life that 
is troubled outwardly may nevertheless be pro- 
foundly calm and peaceful within. Christ gives his 
peace to the inner life. He bestows his gift upon 
the deep places of the soul. He makes an inward 
realm for the heart and fences it round about with 
quiet. It is the chamber of peace. " The pilgrim 
they laid in a chamber whose window opened toward 
the sunrising. The name of the chamber was Peace. 
There he lay till break of day, and then he awoke 
and sang." 



274 SEPTEMBER THIRTY 

Cfte Second ©on 

" And he came to the second, and said likewise. And 
he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not." 

Matthew 21:30. 

THERE are some things in the Scripture that 
are very melancholy. They bring sadness to 
the heart. This is one of them — the pic- 
ture of a man who was weak in action, a mere 
sentimentalist. Jesus takes but a single sentence 
for the description. " He answered and said, I go, 
sir; and went not." How prompt and fair his an- 
swer was — " I go, sir." But in the presence of the 
Lord of Reality he stands pilloried before the world 
as an easy-going sentimentalist, for he " went not." 
He was strong to promise but weak to act. He was 
like this watch of mine. How often I have taken it 
out of my pocket and wound and shaken it. It is 
a beautiful piece of workmanship, all embossed and 
jewelled. With what a fair face it looks up to me 
to say, " I go, sir." And a half-hour later I take 
it out of my pocket only to discover that it is stand- 
ing still. The jeweler will tell me the trouble after 
a moment's inspection — " weak in its action." My 
watch is the second son of the parable; its senti- 
ments are fair, but its action is weak. There are 
too many second sons on the church roll. 



A 



OCTOBER ONE 275 

ffl)ttr s©aceOonia0 

" Come over into Macedonia and help us." 

Acts 16:9. 

' i ^ ND help us." That is the great word of 
religion. Religion of high lights, of great 
silences or of solemn organ tones, of broad 
aisles and high rafters and serious faces — how fine 
it all is! What opportunities for eloquence and 
elaboration, for all the noble array of the mind's 
furniture! But has religion any faculty for doing? 
— that is the main question. Does it pale before 
the world's dark thoughts, its tenement dwellings, 
its heated spaces, its areas of discontent and 
struggle? Can it do aught to help? Can it put 
a hand to the plow? Can it serve as well as think 
and pray? Can it go out into the arena and lay 
a sobering hand upon contending elements? Not 
the well-wisher, but the strong doer, is the world's 
need. Not folded hands and an indifferent air, but 
a strong touch in God's name upon the world's sor- 
rows. Not a faith laid away like a scented letter 
in an ivory box, but a faith that is armed for serv- 
ice in the thick of the fight. Have you found your 
Macedonia? It may lie very near at hand — in 
your own community's needs, in your neighbor's ca- 
lamities or handicaps, over the back yard fence, or 
down on the next block. There is a call to help 
somewhere, and religion bids you go. 



276 OCTOBER TWO 

Delttoerp from JFear 

" And delivered me from all my fears." 

Psalms 34:4. 

IT is a Psalm of deliverance. " This poor man 
cried, and Jehovah heard him, and saved him 
out of all his troubles." " The angel of Jehovah 
encampeth round about them that fear him, and de- 
livereth them." " Jehovah heard, and delivered 
them out of all their troubles." " Many are the 
afflictions of the righteous, but Jehovah delivereth 
him out of them all." Can you sing this song of 
deliverance? Do you know your God's rescuing 
power? Most of all, can you say he " delivered 
me from all my fears " ? Do not fail to observe 
how this came about. " I sought Jehovah, and he 
answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." 
The very best way to meet any great fear of life, 
outward or inward, is to let the heart go out after 
God. It is a noble sort of preoccupation, a sort 
of spiritual prophylactic. How can the heart 
shrink or be afraid when it is mounting up on wings 
to God? Nothing so quickly strikes off the shackles 
of fear from the soul as conscious fellowship with 
God. A child runs to his father or mother to be 
delivered from his fears. Even so the child of God 
must seek the Lord to be saved from the bondage of 
fear. The seeking soul is the comforted soul. 



OCTOBER THREE 277 

Cfte ©reatest Cinng 

" Herein I also exercise myself to have a conscience 
void of offense toward God and men always." 

Acts 24:16. 

THE greatest thing in man is not muscle, not 
mind, not speech, not sympathy, not even 
love. The greatest thing in man is con- 
science. With many voices calling us in many di- 
rections, conscience is the perpetual reminder of the 
inner life of the soul. Man is forgetful of his origin 
and his destiny. Conscience is set deep within him 
to keep him in mind of the wonder of his spiritual 
being. Each day it seems to say to us, " Lest you 
forget." Every hour conscience summons us to 
some battlefield of right and wrong. The fight for 
moral worth and supremacy is the soul's Armaged- 
don. Of this great conflict conscience is both in- 
spirer and arbiter. So it comes to pass that a man's 
conscience is the measure of his improvement or his 
deterioration. It is a guide to social utility and 
the method of social betterment. If a man has no 
conscience toward God and men, the battle is lost. 
He sinks into moral impotence and spiritual incom- 
petence. It is conscience that keeps the soul keyed 
to duty, and makes strong the link between God's 
being and ours. More than this, conscience is the 
advance agent of immortality proclaiming the per- 
manency of spiritual things. 



278 OCTOBER FOUR 

Cfte <Sreat Ceacfter 

" One is your Teacher, and all ye are brethren." 

Matthew 23:8. 

WHAT a beautiful text, my brethren, and 
what beautiful lessons it brings to us ! 
We all feel alike about Jesus' teaching 
whether we are his professed disciples or not. We 
know that he is the Prince of teachers. We feel that 
everything he has said is helpful to the soul. We 
dare not miss a single word. There are many teach- 
ers, but he is beyond them all both in wisdom and 
in authority. " One is your Teacher." Others 
have their place, but Jesus is pre-eminently the 
Teacher about life. " He himself knew what was 
in man." If any man will let Jesus tell him how to 
live his life, it shall be well with him. We must feel 
that he is our Teacher all round about life. The 
student with his books, the machinist with his tools, 
the housewife in her daily round of care, the minis- 
ter in his pulpit — Jesus can furnish wisdom for 
every sphere of life. If only we would go to him 
more and more for wisdom and grace, we would find 
the burdens of life easier and the shadows far less 
dark. " And all ye are brethren," that is, members 
of the same school, with the same Master over you. 
You have heard the same lessons, you have drunk 
at the same fountain — therefore " be of the same 
mind in the Lord." 



OCTOBER FIVE 279 

a ©traigfjt Course 

" We made a straight course to Samothrace." 

Acts .16:11. 

IT is the way to go at one's duty. Make a 
straight course to it, go to the very heart of it. 
If you know your duty, go and do it without 
halting, without haggling, without circumlocution. 
Some men spend years of their lives evading duty. 
The trouble is that they never make a straight course 
to it. Invariably when they come face to face with 
it, they slide around some corner of the mind or cut 
across lots in their thinking. They never really 
grapple with duty, never really break a way into the 
midst of it. The best way to proceed with a difficult 
thing is just to go and do it — make a straight 
course to it. Lose no time in argument, explanation 
or apology. Go and do it. Often a hard thing 
becomes suddenly easy when a resolute soul lays hold 
of it. Why, my friend, that disagreeable duty which 
you have postponed tjiese many days — if you will 
just go and do it you will be surprised at the ease of 
doing what you have long dreaded. The surest way 
to make a task difficult is to approach it irresolutely 
and by indirection. Duties that are treated with 
cavalier indifference have a way of rising in self- 
defense. Then they are harder than before. 



280 OCTOBER SIX 

" And called the name of it Eben=ezer, saying, Hitherto 
hath Jehovah helped us." 

I Samuel 7:12. 

TOO often we leave our deliverances unmarked, 
our victories without memorial. Our lives are 
strewn with memorials of defeat. " Yonder 
by the great stone I met with misfortune on the way." 
" By this well here I came upon a great calamity." 
"On this or that date I endured a heart-breaking 
sorrow." We are quick to raise stones of disaster. 
But why not Ebenezers — stones of help ? Why not 
strew the pathway of life with memorials of deliver- 
ance? "Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us." Yes, 
times without number. Has he not healed our sick- 
nesses, saved us from accident, spared us in the midst 
of disaster, delivered us from deadly peril? Has he 
not strengthened us in the hour of weakness, be- 
friended us in times of loneliness, encamped round 
about us in days of threatening? Yea, more, we have 
walked in the midst of unseen and unrealized dangers, 
and the Lord has been our helper. How often he has 
defended us against foes that lurked in darkness and 
evils that sought to entrap us. Yet how often we 
have failed to set up our Ebenezers in memory of the 
divine help. How many of the battlefields of life are 
left bare of all memorials, our deliverances forgotten, 
our victories unmarked! 



OCTOBER SEVEN 281 

Cfte Jfruit of tfte Desert 

" The same is desert." Acts 8:26. 

PHILIP was sent out on the road from Jerusa- 
lem to Gaza — " the same is desert." Yet even 
there he found a hungry soul. Behold a man 
sitting in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah ! 
The Spirit who sends us knows better than we do the 
locality of inquiring souls. Let no disciple shrink 
from the desert. Let no man call any place unlikely 
or unpromising. These two souls, Philip and the 
Ethiopian, are paired in the divine purpose. Philip 
is a disciple ; and the Ethiopian riding across the des- 
ert is dependent upon his coming. Unless Philip 
comes the Ethiopian may read on and on and not un- 
derstand. 

Modernize this story. Are there not others riding 
in chariots, or walking in the streets, or living in our 
homes, or attending our churches, to whom you and 
I are being sent ? It is an awakening thought to real- 
ize that there is a fellow-soul depending upon me. 
God has related me to some other spirit. Somewhere 
in the shadow there is another human being walking 
who needs help from me. " The same is desert " — 
nevertheless there are human footsteps there that 
some one must trace and follow to the end. " O 
Spirit of God, speak to me and send me to the soul 
that waits for me. Send me to the desert even, if 
thou wilt, but send me ! " 



282 OCTOBER EIGHT 

4F00D an& Cohering 

44 Having food and covering we shall be therewith con= 
tent." I Timothy 6:8. 

THE apostle furnishes abundant reasoning for 
this counsel. Our original poverty. "We 
brought nothing into the world." We are 
bare at birth, we are bare again at death. " Neither 
can we carry anything out." Moreover abundance 
of this world's goods makes life difficult. "They 
that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and 
a snare." No man can love wealth with impunity. 
" For the love of money is a root of all kinds of 
evil." Then there is another very conclusive clause 
in the reasoning. " Godliness with contentment is 
great gain." All these things considered, "having 
food and raiment we shall be therewith content." 
When shall we fully learn that contentment is not 
dependent upon our basket and store? A king asked 
a stable boy what he received for his work. " My 
victuals and my clothes," he replied. " Be content," 
said the king; "I have no more." The fewer our 
wants the better the chance for contentment. It is 
because men want so many things that they grow dis- 
contented. They ask too much, and life disappoints 
them. They want things, whereas God desires them 
to have life itself. They expect an abundant living, 
while Christ came to give abundant life. A long line 
of biographies proves conclusively that contentment 
is not dependent upon abundance. Do not clog your 
soul with things. 



OCTOBER NINE 283 

Jf in Ding tfte One^pecteD 

" That night they took nothing. But when day was 
now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach." 

John 21:3, 4. 

IT was indeed a heavenly compensation. They 
caught no fish, but they saw Jesus standing on 
the shore. Wonderful dawn that revealed to 
them the unexpected Presence! 

Many of us have faith only for the expected things. 
We demand nothing further of life. We go to catch 
fish, and we see nothing further in the enterprise. 
We have no eyes for sacred things. It is worth 
while now and again to fail utterly in catching fish, 
if only we can find unexpected truths and unlooked- 
for glory behind our failure. There is a wise princi- 
ple of substitution at work in human life at the very 
heart of things. If we do not find what we seek for, 
perhaps we may find what we have not sought for — 
something better and more glorious. They who find 
only what they are looking for only make a begin- 
ning at life. Let us not be so busy angling endlessly 
for the fish of the sea that we have no time to look 
away to yonder shore, and see the outline of a sacred 
truth. or presence that will forever bless us. The 
chief business of life after all is not to catch fish, but 
to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. 






284 OCTOBER TEN 

jFruifcTBearfng 

" I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and 
bear fruit." John 15:16. 

THE Master of the vineyard is of course much 
concerned about fruit-bearing. His words 
are clear and earnest. " Herein is my Fa- 
ther glorified, that ye bear much fruit." " He that 
abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much 
fruit." " Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, 
he taketh it away." Who can doubt, after these 
words of Jesus, the importance of fruit-bearing? 
But as if to remove any lingering vagueness our Lord 
added, " I chose you, and appointed you, that ye 
should go and bear fruit." Chosen and appointed 
for fruit-bearing! That, in other words, was the 
Master's very design and purpose in calling men into 
his Kingdom. He wanted fruit in his vineyard, 
therefore he chose and appointed disciples to bear 
fruit. He appointed Andrew and Peter and John 
and James and all the rest of them — and all the 
rest of us — to bear fruit. It is a very definite ap- 
pointment — startlingly so indeed. I wonder if we 
have all realized that our Lord and Master has 
great expectations regarding us. He looks to us to 
adorn his vineyard with abundant fruit. He has set 
his hopes upon us for the fulfillment of a great pur- 
pose. Let us not disappoint the Master of the vine- 
yard. 



OCTOBER ELEVEN 285 



S' 



a S©inti to Wiotk 

" The people had a mind to work.'* Nehemiah 4:6. 

6 ' C^ we built the wall." And no wonder, " for 
the people had a mind to work." It is 
the easiest thing in the world to work when 
the mind is willing. Everything goes well. Burdens 
seem light, and the workers are uplifted by a buoy- 
ancy of spirit that makes them rejoice at their tasks. 
The difficulties of our work are not so much in the 
work itself as in ourselves. It is not the work alone 
that resists us, but our own minds. Work is hard 
when the heart is unwilling. Then difficulties in- 
crease and the burdens are enlarged. Every man is 
a slave when his soul is not in his work. There is no 
use in talking about the blessing of toil to a lazy 
man. He has no mind to work; he escapes it if he 
can, or endures it if he must. Happy is the man 
who loves to work. He has a mind for taking hold 
of his task. He grows weary in his body, but his 
mind never wearies. Each day he goes to his work 
with zest. There is something new every hour. 
There is a fresh surprise at every turn. To the man 
who has a mind to work his work is not a curse or a 
burden; it is meat and drink, it is the Heavenly Fa- 
ther's benediction. 



286 OCTOBER TWELVE 

Roots of T3ittzmt$$ 

" Looking carefully . . . lest any root of bitterness 
springing up trouble you." 

Hebrews 12:15. 

BITTERNESS! The word leaves a disagree- 
able taste in the mouth. It is a pity when 
bitterness comes into a human life. Such a 
trouble goes out only by fasting and prayer. God 
pity the man or woman who has been embittered. It 
is a battle royal, but you must fight it. " Looking 
carefully " lest these roots spring up — that is the 
word. Open your heart to the grace of God. Noth- 
ing sweetens a bitter soul like the tender love of God. 
Let it flow in until your heart is full. Bitterness is 
like poison. There is death in the pot when the soul 
is bitter. It troubles you and defiles many. Keep 
your spirit wholesome in its thoughts and sweet in 
its purposes. Pray to be delivered from bitter feel- 
ings. Dig out the roots of bitterness, whatever they 
may be. Many a home has been invaded by bitter- 
ness. Sweetness and gentleness have departed; 
sharpness and exaction have come in their place. 
Unruly tongues and critical spirits have sown the 
seeds of bitterness. The softening reign of love has 
passed away. " Husbands, love your wives, and be 
not bitter against them." " Let all bitterness be put 
away from you, . . . and be ye kind one to another, 
tender-hearted, forgiving." Watch against the 
" springing up " of roots of bitterness in the home. 



OCTOBER THIRTEEN 287 

2Dut JFatfter 

"For thou art our Father." Isaiah 63:16. 

THE old version reads, " Doubtless thou art our 
Father." We keep the thought if not the 
word. There can be no manner of doubt 
about the Fatherhood of God. Let us sit down 
daily beneath this thought as under " the shadow of 
a great rock." Nay, let us walk and work beneath 
its protection and comfort. There are sixty-six 
books in the Bible, and all unite in this one truth: 
" Thou / art our Father." Many writers, many 
scenes, many incidents, many histories, but one reve- 
lation. Many pictures, but one artist, one thought. 
The Fatherhood of God! It is this that cures the 
soul's loneliness. There are hours when the vastness 
of the universe appals us and the world seems cold 
and distant. At such times we must take refuge un- 
der the pavilion of this thought — " Thou art our 
Father." He who knows this truth in his heart can 
never be alone. He has found a great Companion 
for his soul. " I am not alone," said Jesus, " be- 
cause the Father is with me." No matter where we 
are, we can look up and say, " God is my Father." 
In all conditions and situations of life, in the ex- 
tremities of distress and sin, in all times and experi- 
ences when the soul is oppressed and enfeebled by its 
own loneliness, the heart may whisper its prayer to 
r Our Father." 



288 OCTOBER FOURTEEN 

e@oral (Equivalents 

" Blessed be Jehovah my rock, who teacheth my hands 
to war and my fingers to fight." 

Psalms 144:1. 

NO doubt David in his warlike age was thinking 
of literal battlefields. But his words carry 
far beyond the struggle of war out into the 
arena of life. Human life is a battle. It is no lazy 
June day. Therefore Jehovah " teacheth my hands 
to war and my fingers to fight." There are things 
worth fighting for in this world. There are " moral 
equivalents " of war that are big enough and im- 
portant enough to satisfy all the heroism of the soul. 
Christianity is a militant faith. The gospel never 
stands for a complacent life. It would sheathe the 
sword of battle, but not the sword of the Spirit, not 
the sword of righteousness. The very air of battle 
is in the New Testament. Often as our Lord spoke 
of rest and peace, he declared also that he had not 
come to bring peace, but a sword. Do your palms 
itch and your fingers tingle for the battles of right- 
eousness ? Are your arteries pulsing with the enthu- 
siasm of humanity? Are you ready to fight for 
Purity and Temperance and Law Observance and 
Freedom of Worship and the Holy Sabbath and the 
Word of God? Is not your God teaching your fin- 
gers to fight for something worth while? Is your 
Christianity mere " dress parade " ? Are you " at 
ease in Zion "? Are you only " marking time "? 



OCTOBER FIFTEEN 289 

" For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of 
power and love and discipline." 

II Timothy 1:7. 

THERE are some studies that are not in the cur- 
riculum. It is true in school and college, and 
it is also true in the school of life. The im- 
portant branches are universally recognized, such as 
Honor, Obedience, Reverence, Perseverance, Indus- 
try, Courtesy, and Personal Religion. Beyond 
these there are minor branches that are often under- 
valued or overlooked. Not the least of these is what, 
for lack of a better name, we must call Moderation or 
Self-Control. God has given us in the gospel, the 
apostle declares, not a spirit of disturbance, or fear- 
fulness, but of discipline. The old version says a 
sound mind, that is, a spiritual condition which makes 
it possible for one to keep himself well in hand. 
And is not this spirit of moderation or self-control 
much needed? It is so easy to run off the track, to 
" fly off the handle." There are so many things from 
day to day that are calculated to destroy one's 
equilibrium. We have known persons who seemed to 
be in a chronic state of disturbance. They were for- 
ever being upset and torn up by the roots. They 
had " a spirit of fearfulness." They knew naught of 
the spirit " of power and love and discipline." Let 
us ask for the gift of a sound mind, that cannot 
easily be overturned and that knows the art of self- 
control. 



290 OCTOBER SIXTEEN 

Cfte Secret of ©uccegg 

" And in every work that he began ... he did it with 
all his heart, and prospered." 

II Chronicles 31:21. 

MUCH wise counsel has been offered on the sub- 
ject of success, and many plans have been 
tried by many different persons. Doubtless 
there are numerous practicable approaches to the 
citadel of success, but it is certain that few succeed 
without giving themselves utterly to their work. The 
Duke of Wellington was right ; " No man stumbles 
into success." What is written of Hezekiah is likely 
to be written of most men who get on : " He did it 
with all his heart." It is our half-hearted way of 
working that holds us back. If things do not go 
well, begin at once to suspect yourself of lessened 
interest. It is remarkable how a man's lack of heart 
for his work will tell in the quality of what he does. 
There is something missing in the finish of it. It is 
not well rounded out. There is a personal touch that 
is lacking. But he who works " with all his heart," 
even though he have less of talent than another, 
fills his work full to overflowing with interest, enthu- 
siasm and delight. Though it be so humble a task 
as hoeing potatoes or whitewashing a fence, he works 
with such abandon of interest and purpose as makes 
his task a royal one. The highway to success leads 
through the heart. 






OCTOBER SEVENTEEN 291 

^urrenOereO Hitoeg 

" First they gave their own selves to the Lord." 

II Corinthians 8:5. 

AND such a gift is ever acceptable to the Lord. 
It is told that the pupils of Socrates came to 
him one day bearing gifts of various kinds. 
But one there was who hung back. When the teacher 
summoned him forward he came with shamed face, 
and threw himself down at the philosopher's feet, ex- 
claiming, " Alas, master, I have nothing to give but 
myself." " You could not bring a more acceptable 
gift," was the teacher's reply. " Son, give me thy 
heart." The Lord needs money and method, but most 
of all he needs persons — contrite hearts, obedient 
wills, consecrated feelings, devoted ambitions. Noth- 
ing less than surrendered lives is his expectation. 

" When thou turnest away from ill, 
Christ is this side of thy hill. 

" When thou turnest toward good, 
Christ is walking in thy wood. 

" When to love is all thy wit, 
Christ doth at thy table sit. 

" When God's will is thy heart's pole, 
Then is Christ thy very soul." 



292 OCTOBER EIGHTEEN 

" And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom 
shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, 
Here am I; send me." Isaiah 6:8. 

THERE are three things that the disciples of 
Jesus should do. First, they should desire to 
be used. Also, they should try to be used. 
And there is another thing, very important, that is 
often forgotten — they should pray to be used. 
When any one comes to God in prayer, saying, 
" Here am I ; send me," the Lord will take him at his 
word. " Get your tools ready ; the Lord will give 
you the work." The surest way to find something 
useful to do is to begin to pray about it. Tell God 
about your willingness, and see if the door does not 
soon open. The Master is looking constantly and 
everywhere for willing spirits. " Whom shall I send, 
and who will go for us ? " It is not his way to com- 
pel service ; he desires volunteers. He has not called 
us servants, but friends. He needs a great company 
of his friends who will respond gladly to his call. 
Alas ! he is often disappointed. Too often, when he 
expects a quick answer, he is met with an evasive re- 
ply : " Do not send me, Lord ; send another." How 
sad our Lord's heart must be when any of his pro- 
fessed friends evade his call. But how glad when he 
hears the quick response, " Here am I ; send me." 






OCTOBER NINETEEN 293 

C6e Strength of a iReOeemeO S©an 

" I can do all things in him that strengthened me." 

Philippians 4:13. 

WE are reminded of John Ruskin's theory of 
art. Art is not for art's sake, but for 
man's sake and for God's glory. It is not 
a theory written down in books. It is a force in- 
tended to operate among men. It is a form of ex- 
pression and a power of betterment. It should take 
hold of us and show us how to live after a better 
pattern. And so Paul felt about the gospel. He 
felt its power as one feels an electric current, down 
to the least filament of the nerves. It was no mere 
doctrine to be written and laid away on dusty shelves. 
It was a force, an energy, a dynamic. It energizes 
me, he said. I feel that I can do all things in Christ 
who strengthens me. It was not mere boasting. 
This same apostle was humbled by a thorn in the 
flesh which would not depart from him. He realized 
that it was when he was weak that he was strong. 
His strength, in other words, was the strength of de- 
pendence upon Christ. According as he believed and 
trusted in Christ he was strengthened for his work. 
His was the strength of a redeemed man, weak in him- 
self but strong in his God. We could all accomplish 
greater things if we would draw more deeply upon the 
strength of Christ. 



294 



OCTOBER TWENTY 



j£>e ©irOeD himself 



He took a towel and girded himself, . . . and began 
to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with 
the towel." John 13:4,5. 



never once 



I SUPPOSE that our dear Lord 
thought that he was lowering his dignity by 
washing his disciples' feet. It was not an act 
of condescension on his part, but a natural expression 
of his willingness to serve. And does he not show us 
in this interesting scene how to do our work always? 
We are never to feel that we are demeaning ourselves 
even by a slight or disagreeable duty. We are never 
to give the impression that we are coming down to a 
lower level in the doing of any work for our fel- 
low-men. The truth is that we ascend to a higher 
level when we render any simple, disinterested serv- 
ice. If there be sacrifice, we must try to be uncon- 
scious of it. We must think constantly of how we 
are being honored by the privilege of doing anything 
for Christ and our fellow-men. . There is no menial 
service in the Kingdom. Everything we stoop to do 
really exalts us. How is Christ exalted before us as 
we see him girding himself and stooping to his work ! 
Anything is truly dignified that is done for Christ's 
dear sake. One may do a simple act with such un- 
conscious surrender of self as to make the act glori- 
ous. 



OCTOBER TWENTY-ONE 295 

J^i0 Jl3ame 

" And by faith in his name hath his name made this 
man strong." Acts 3:16. 

HAVE you ever noticed how often and how im- 
pressively the name of Jesus is referred to in 
the Acts? " Be it known unto you all," said 
the apostle Peter, " that in the name of Jesus Christ 
of Nazareth, even in him, doth this man stand here 
before you whole." Then he added — " For neither 
is there any other name, that is given among men, 
wherein we must be saved." The apostles rejoiced 
" that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor 
for the Name." Philip preached good tidings " con- 
cerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus 
Christ." It was said of Barnabas and Paul that 
they were " men that have hazarded their lives for the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ." In Ephesus " the 
name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." 

How sweet the name of Jesus must have sounded 
in the ears of those early believers. Should it be 
less so with us to-day? Is not his name always fra- 
grant and beautiful ? And is it not ever replete with 
power? A young college student said in a meeting 
one day that when temptations assailed him, he was 
in the habit of saying over and over in his mind the 
name of Jesus. Yes, his name is protective and refin- 
ing. It lifts a high standard for the soul. It sum- 
mons us to high endeavor. " His name made this 
man strong." 



296 OCTOBER TWENTY-TWO 

Count gout 15ie00ing0 

" The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places." 

Psalms 16:6. 

THE Lord drove out the nations from Canaan 
and allotted the land to Israel " for an in- 
heritance by line." So the psalmist says, 
" the boundary lines are fallen unto me in pleasant 
places." He was contented with his lot. " Thou 
maintainest my lot." I cannot be dispossessed. 
" Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance." I 
am rich indeed. " Yea, I have a goodly heritage." 
" Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be 
moved." I dwell in a safe place. " In thy presence 
is fullness of joy." There is nothing that I lack to 
make my life a joyous one. 

The psalmist is doing what we should all do much 
more often — he is counting up his blessings. There 
is no day so dark that we cannot find reasons for re- 
joicing in it. The number of our mercies always 
exceeds the number of our troubles. What most of 
us need is to cultivate the habit of dwelling upon our 
blessings. When we do this, we find that they ac- 
tually grow in our hands. A large blessing unappre- 
ciated is apt to shrink, while even an insignificant 
blessing warmly received and heartily appreciated 
will often grow into a large joy of life. Happy are 
they, who even in humble places, and with many limi- 
tations can say, " The lines are fallen unto me in 
pleasant places." Forthwith their life begins to 
grow more beautiful than before. 



OCTOBER TWENTY-THREE 297 

gtoeetemng tije ftaaters 

" And Jehovah showed him a tree, and he cast it into 
the waters, and the waters were made sweet." 

Exodus 15:25. 

BITTER waters made sweet! What tree is it 
that can work such a mysterious change in 
the waters of Marah? " Jehovah showed him 
a tree," and he hath also showed us a tree. It is 
the tree on which the Son of Glory died. Its leaves 
are for the healing of the nations. Its branches are 
for the protection of all who will take refuge in them. 
Try this tree in the bitter waters of life, and see if 
they will not sweeten. The bitter waters of sin — 
there are many proposals for the sweetening of these, 
but none that are of any avail. Good resolutions, 
change of environment, enlivening occupation, " good 
works " — all these are merely nostrums. They can- 
not change bitter into sweet. The trouble is that the 
waters of sin contain poison. They need a regen- 
erating power. Try the cross on which Jesus died. 
It is the antidote for sin's poison. It is the foil for 
sin's power. 

The bitter waters of sorrow — oh, what can 
sweeten these? How many there are who are called 
to drink the waters of sorrow. And how little we 
seem able to help one another. " The heart knoweth 
its own bitterness." But the Cross can sweeten sor- 
row. When our sorrow is touched by the sacrifice 
of Christ, it is transformed by the fellowship of his 
sufferings. 



298 OCTOBER TWENTY-FOUR 

apologies 

" And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to 

be with me, she gave me of the tree." 
" And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me." 

Genesis 3:12, 13. 

FROM the beginning men and women have 
wasted much time in apologies. A sorrowful 
example was given us by the first pair, and we 
find it hard to escape its influence. Apologies and 
explanations are no doubt many times needful, but 
a habit of apologizing is something to be severely 
frowned upon. Not to speak of the waste of time 
and breath, and the general display of weakness, there 
is a danger lurking beneath our apologies which must 
be reckoned with. Apologies are a tactic of self- 
defense, and when one is defending himself it is hard 
to be wholly sincere. We naturally make our ex- 
cuses as favorable and as strong as possible, and lest 
we use great care, we fall into methods of indirection, 
and statements of unconscious exaggeration, that are 
not wholly true. The peril of apologies is indirec- 
tion and evasion. It is better to make an open con- 
fession than to risk one's character upon an apology. 
There are times indeed when excuses and explanations 
are best omitted altogether. " If you visit your 
friend," says Emerson, " why need you apologize for 
not having visited him, and waste his time and deface 
your own act? Visit him now." 



OCTOBER TWENTY-FIVE 299 

" Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the 
honeycomb." Psalms 19:10. 

THIS is what my Bible is to me. The sweetness 
of honey is greatest when it comes forth from 
the comb full of the aroma and flavor of ten 
thousand flowers. And my Bible is sweeter to me 
than this I It is the only book that satisfies me deep 
down in the soul. It seems to find me in the truest 
needs of my life, it speaks to me in the secret places 
of my soul. I cannot express all that I feel about 
it, but I know that it brings to me such a wealth 
of consolation as to make me realize more than ever 
what it is to live and to be a child of God. I know 
also that whenever I open its pages there comes to 
me a sensation of being in the presence of a great 
light. With my Bible to guide me I feel that I am 
not walking in darkness. And I know another thing, 
that my Bible has a strange power to quicken me. 
Whenever I read it, I find that my heart burns within 
me. Spiritual desires and hopes are awakened, and 
spiritual longings are aroused. My soul hungers 
and thirsts for God, for the living God. My heart 
desires Christ — the Christ of Calvary, and the Holy 
Spirit, the gift of Pentecost. 



300 OCTOBER TWENTY-SIX 

CJnngs MJfrici) Cannot fie ©imfeen 

" That those things which are not shaken may remain." 

Hebrews 12:27. 

THE word is even stronger — " those things 
which cannot be shaken." Things seem very 
unstable to us. What is there that cannot be 
shaken and removed out of its place ? Not wealth or 
fame, not health, not friends, not happiness, not life 
itself. " The removing of those things that are 
shaken " is going on all the while. Go back to your 
childhood home and look about you. Where are all 
the prominent ones, the pillars of the community, as 
you knew it? They have all been shaken and re- 
moved. And many other things have been shaken 
with them, fortunes, traditions, customs, scenes, mem- 
ories. It is not the same community that you once 
knew and loved. Some great giant force has been at 
work removing " things that are shaken." 

But there are things that " cannot be shaken " 
in the old community or anywhere else in the world — 
things that stand the storms, and that no power in 
heaven and earth will undertake to remove. One of 
these unshakable things is truth in the form of char- 
acter. Every sincere and true life stands. Nothing 
can shake it apart or remove it out of its place. 
Every life that is fixed in God has a permanency that 
nothing can destroy. You will go back to the old 
home then, and although the old faces and forms are 
missing, you will still feel the presence of those true 
and good lives that blessed you in your youth. Char- 
acter remains. 



OCTOBER TWENTY-SEVEN 301 

jfotgetting OBreao 

" And they forgot to take bread." Mark 8:14. 
" I am the bread of life." John 6:48. 

NO doubt they had a good boat, and plenty of 
tackle, and it may be that they had even pre- 
pared some comforts for the journey. But 
they had forgotten to take bread ! By accident they 
had one loaf in the boat with them, but they could 
not ask their Master to perform another miracle. 
Bread the staff of life, and they had left it behind ! 
Surely it was a strange omission. Strong oars or 
good sails might bring them upon their way, but what 
of their appetite and hunger meanwhile? 

Are we not sometimes like the disciples in the boat ? 
We forget to bring bread. We take everything else 
that we can carry, good name, riches, pleasure, edu- 
cation, power, but we forget the essential thing — 
bread. For though all these other things be needful, 
bread is indispensable. O friend, have you turned 
your back upon Jesus ? He is the bread of life, and 
you cannot get along without him. It could hardly 
happen that you would neglect him? Yes, there are 
those who embark upon the sea of life without tak- 
ing Jesus with them. They have not brought bread, 
they have neglected the staff of their soul's life. 
Though they have all things, yet are they in danger 
of starvation, for they have forgotten to bring 
bread. 



I 



302 OCTOBER TWENTY-EIGHT 

"And the sea is no more." Revelation 21:1. 

THE sea is the most lonely part of all creation. 
Its vastness, its strength, its force, its cruelty 
strike terror to the soul. Impressive and 
wonderful as the sea is, it is not friendly and com- 
panionable. It stirs our admiration, it amazes us 
by its ever-changing form and color, but it does not 
comfort the heart. When one sits down by the far- 
stretching ocean, a deep sense of solitude and lone- 
liness steals in upon the heart. When the new heaven 
and the new earth have come, there will be no more 
sea — no more loneliness. Is there a reminiscence 
here of the apostle John's lonely exile in the Isle of 
Patmos? So long in his solitude he had looked 
out upon the waste of waters about him, that when 
the vision of a new world and a new life filled his mind, 
his feeling of the utter loneliness of the sea voiced 
itself. " The sea is no more." In the Holy City the 
soul will be more at home than ever before. A sweet 
sense of friendliness will fill the hearts of God's peo- 
ple. There will be no foe of any kind whatsoever, 
and no terror will appal the mind. Fear will be a 
thing unknown. There will be such rest and comfort 
and sympathy as will cure the heart forever of its 
loneliness in the world. 



OCTOBER TWENTY-NINE 303 

Cfte 3ne*!mii0ti6le Cftrfet 

M If they should be written every one, I suppose that 
even the world itself would not contain the books 
that should be written." John 21:25. 



I 



' 4 "W"F they should be written every one " — that is, 
the " many other things which Jesus did." 
The four Gospels are in a sense only the be- 
ginning. There is a long sequel. It is a continued 
story. Enough books could not be written to tell 
the full story of the Son of Man. Our hearts feel 
how true this is. How many things Jesus has done 
for you and me that have never been written down in 
books. In truth they could not be written down. 
There are some experiences of our souls that can 
never be put into words. They defy description and 
definition. This is grandly true of my dear Lord's 
dealings with me. How could I ever tell in words or 
in cold type the meaning of his quiet, wonderful min- 
istry to my heart? How could I ever put into a 
book the wonder of his love, the tenderness of his 
compassion, the freedom of his pardon, the fellowship 
of his sufferings, the breadth of his sympathy, the 
delight of his companionship? No, the world could 
not contain the books that should be written. The 
subject is ever new and inexhaustible. My Lord's 
grace and glory will never become tarnished, never 
wear out. He is the same yesterday, to-day and 
forever. 



304 OCTOBER THIRTY 

SDut IBittfitigfet 

" Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one 
was born in her." Psalms 87:5. 

WHEN you are counting up your life assets, 
and reckoning your wealth, not in dollars 
and cents, but in real values, do not neglect 
to set high up in the column your birthright in God's 
house. Scarcely do we realize what it means to be 
born in Zion, to draw the love of Zion into one's 
veins with our first food, to have one's name written 
early upon the record of God's house. Surely it is 
no light matter to have rights and privileges, by birth 
in Zion, and the man who treats it lightly is not 
wiser than was he who sold his birthright for a mess 
of pottage. The loss of such a gift of nature and 
grace is indeed a tragic loss. We are not likely to 
sell our birthright openly as Esau did. Nevertheless 
we can lose it in other ways. One can lose his birth- 
right in Zion by sheer neglect. One can drift 
through indifference out into the world, leaving the 
old attachments far behind. One's birthright should 
be a thing of the heart's deepest love and care, a gift 
to be cultivated and brightened with use, a precious 
possession of the soul that the years cannot dim nor 
the world corrode. 



OCTOBER THIRTY-ONE 305 

" And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren." 

I Chronicles 4:9. 

JABEZ! It is a name to remember, although it 
is buried in such obscurity that one must search 
the Scriptures to find it. Turn to the fourth 
chapter of First Chronicles and read from the 
beginning. It is dry, uninteresting reading — only 
a list of hard, unpronounceable names. But sud- 
denly at the ninth verse you come upon these arrest- 
ing words about Jabez, followed by a brief biographi- 
cal statement that is a perfect gem of conciseness 
and beauty. Who was Jabez? No man can tell. 
The names of his father and mother are not recorded. 
The name of his tribe is not given. Nothing — ex- 
cept the fact that his mother " bare him with sor- 
row," and that he called on the God of Israel in a 
prayer that is as beautiful and uplifting as a poem. 
" Bless me and enlarge my border," he prayed. Let 
thy hand be with me, " that thou wouldest keep me 
from evil, that it be not to my sorrow." And God 
granted him that which he requested. He desired to 
be a good man, and his wish was fulfilled, as every 
such wish and prayer always will be. All this is very 
faint light, but it is enough to illuminate very wonder- 
fully the description of his character — " Jabez was 
more honorable than his brethren." Now we know 
who Jabez was — he was just a good man, true and 
faithful to God and his fellow-men. Such men do 
not require a pedigree. 



306 NOVEMBER ONE 

©pare Cime 

" Are there not twelve hours in the day? " John 11:9. 

BUT never any time to waste! And never 
any time to kill! And never any time to 
put to bad use ! It is a solemn thing to real- 
ize that we are custodians of the hours. In this we 
are all rich in the same measure. My wealthy neigh- 
bor has no greater supply of time in the day than I 
have. With absolute impartiality the Heavenly 
Father metes out the hours to all. But men differ 
in few things so much as in their use of time. If we 
could have a university to teach the economy of time, 
it would prove very useful. It ought too to be a 
university of the people, for there are many in all 
walks of life who need to learn such lessons. All of 
us have enough spare time to build worlds in — 
worlds of knowledge, education, self-improvement 
and accumulation. Perhaps if the true secret of suc- 
cess were known, it would be found that the economy 
of time is one phase of it. It is the way we use the 
margins of time that counts for up-building. It is 
the way we watch for opportunities in the flight of 
the hours that makes for growth. A mother read 
Macaulay's History and other books while she was 
rocking her children to sleep. By the time she had 
reared seven children she was the best educated 
woman in the community ! 



NOVEMBER TWO 307 

Little 4Fose0 

" The little foxes that spoil the vineyards." 

Song of Solomon 2:15. 

HOW often a bit of an evil habit will trip a man 
up in the race or bowl him over in the pres- 
ence of the world. Birds resting on the 
hands of the clock in the tower yonder have been 
known to stop the machinery. A little stone in the 
shoe is a plague to walking. A slender arrow, so be 
it is but properly tipped, may reach the heart of a 
giant. The history of " little foxes " runs on per- 
petually in this world. It does not require a croco- 
dile to spoil the ointment. Characters are more 
easily marred than oil paintings. 

This is one reason why we must not be too quick to 
judge one another. Emphasizing the mote in our 
brother's eye, we are apt to overlook the beam in our 
own eye. If your neighbor's weakness is bad temper, 
yours may be a gossipy tongue. The truth is that 
the work of building character is no child's play. 
A carpenter can put together a frame building in a 
few days, but if men wish to build a marble hall 
they must take time and have patience. Each day 
we must do some work on our own building. Nor let 
us despise the help that is offered us. If proof be 
demanded of the need of religion, it is found in our 
little faults, our distempers, our ugliness of manner, 
our unbrotherliness, our unchivalrous conduct. 






308 NOVEMBER THREE 

4fa0t asleep 

" But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of 
the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep." 

Jonah 1:5. 

HE was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, 
because the Lord had given him something to 
do that he did not like. He hit upon the ex- 
pedient of taking ship and going away. He thought 
that in Tarshish he would be hidden from the Lord. 
He neglected no detail. " He paid the fare thereof." 
He went " down into the innermost parts of the ship." 
Having taken every precaution he laid himself down 
in fancied security, " and was fast asleep." Imagine 
a man going to sleep while fleeing from the presence 
of the Lord ! Then came " a mighty tempest on the 
sea." The ship was shaken, and was " like to be 
broken." The sailors cast the wares into the sea to 
lighten the ship. But Jonah slept on. The ship- 
master came and said to him, " What meanest thou, 
O sleeper? " Then Jonah realized that his security 
was only a dream. Then he understood how futile it 
is to flee from the presence of Jehovah. " Fast 
asleep ! " That describes the state of many a one 
who is away from God. The tempest is rising and 
he knows it not. What meanest thou, O sleeper, to 
be resting when thou art going away from God? 
For there is no real rest away from the presence of 
God. " Thou hast made me for thyself, and my soul 
is restless until it rests in Thee." 



NOVEMBER FOUR 309 

JLifemg ana Hotting 

" My love be with you all in Christ Jesus." 

I Corinthians 16:24. 

THERE is a difference between liking and lov- 
ing. It is impossible for us to like everybody. 
Liking is a matter of disposition, taste and 
temperament. My neighbor is very disagreeable. 
He is fault-finding, and irritable in the extreme. He 
will go out of his way to make trouble. It requires 
the patience of angels to get along with him. No 
persuasion of logic could make me like him. He is 
not likeable. But I can love this cantankerous neigh- 
bor of mine, and I ought to do so. I can feel a true 
benevolence of the heart for him. I can desire his 
highest welfare. I can even work for his good. Lov- 
ing is greater than liking, because Christ has set us 
a supreme example of loving. How much there must 
be in us that Christ does not like, how many things 
that are contrary to his taste and feeling. Yet he 
loved us even unto the end. Following his example 
we can say to all men, " My love be with you all in 
Christ Jesus." For Christ's dear sake we can love 
those who are disagreeable, and cherish good-will to- 
ward those who are against us. In Christ we can 
pray for those who despitefully use us, and work for 
those who resist us. Mere liking will never win my 
Lord his Kingdom. But loving will bring men to his 
feet. 



310 NOVEMBER FIVE 

(Srotomg 2DID 

" They shall live with their children." Zechariah 10:9. 

THE way to grow old gracefully is to keep the 
heart young. It is not alone the body that 
grows old — the heart also is in danger of 
growing old. One's views of life take on a darker 
color. One's sentiments become gray and inactive. 
One's emotions lose their vivacity, their eagerness. 
Life grows dull and listless. The mind is reminis- 
cent, dwelling in the past. The surprise and charm 
of the future seem to be lost. The spirit of advance 
and venture dries up. The imagination too has its 
wings disabled, and the will grows less assertive. In 
short — the heart grows old. Now the best way to 
keep the heart young is to live with the children. 
Try to think their thoughts and to share their 
point of view. Do not withhold yourself from their 
joys or eschew their fun. Share their eagerness, 
their gladness, their hopefulness. Give your sym- 
pathy to youthful enterprise. Do not forget the 
days of your own youth. Rejoice in the young life 
about you. Keep your heart open, and its highways 
free to affection, interest, sympathy and hope. Age 
is wiser than youth, nevertheless it needs the help of 
youth. It is well for father and son to be much to- 
gether, quite as much for the father as for the son. 
It is well for older heads to keep in touch with the 
thought of youth, lest they grow old before their 
time. 



NOVEMBER SIX 311 



A 



fl)ut U)igi) Calling 

" For our citizenship is in heaven." Philippians 3:20. 

4 4 y^ MAN to enjoy mountains must have moun- 
tains in his soul." When a man has great 
things within him, great thoughts, great 
themes, great hopes, great aspirations, he can live 
among little things and still have a happiness of his 
own. " You may perhaps," says Thoreau, " have 
some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a 
poor-house." Why not? The poor-house does not 
contain you. You are but stopping there on the 
way. You seek a city whose builder and maker is 
God. Yours is a heritage that is higher than the 
earth. They tell of a poor cripple who hobbled away 
from the hearing of a Beethoven symphony, exclaim- 
ing, " You see what I am ; yet with this in my soul I 
go down Regent Street a god ! " We go along the 
dusty ways of this world our heads uplifted and 
our hearts among the stars, for ours is a " high call- 
ing " indeed, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
Here we have no continuing city. The roots of our 
life are yonder. Our resources are beyond, laid up 
in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God 
unto salvation. Our citizen's papers also, containing 
the new name, are stored on high, for the handwriting 
of the ordinances that was against us, that made us 
aliens from the covenant of promise, was nailed to 
the Cross of Jesus. 



312 



NOVEMBER SEVEN 



<©ofl preserves TBtzan 

" Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it 
after many days." 

Ecclesiastes 11:1. 

ONLY be sure that it is bread that you cast 
upon the waters, not chaff. The promise 
is for the grain — " not the least kernel " 
shall fall upon the earth — but there is no promise 
for anything that is not real food for men. What 
we do not value ourselves is not likely to appeal to 
our Heavenly Father's care. But bread — if we are 
willing to spend this upon our fellow-men, God is not 
apt to lose it out of his sight. " He that hath pity 
upon the poor lendeth unto Jehovah, and his good 
deed will he pay him again." Trust God with your 
bread. Cast it upon the waters. That is, scatter as 
widely as you will. This is one thing in which we 
may be prodigal. " Sow beside all waters," and keep 
on sowing. Remember that God will care for all the 
real bread we are willing to venture with him. " Let 
us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we 
shall reap, if we faint not." Do not faint in your 
sowing — then you will never faint for lack of reap- 
ing. " Thou shalt find it after many days." Find 
what? The bread. Its form may change, but it 
will still be bread. God cares for all the bread we 
scatter. 



NOVEMBER EIGHT 313 






A 



That the spices thereof may flow out." 

Song of Solomon 4:16. 



4 ' A VVAKE, O north wind, and come, thou 
south; blow upon my garden, that the 
spices thereof may flow out." There is 
many a beautiful garden that is so fenced in that no 
one on the outside can enjoy it. There are tantaliz- 
ing glimpses through the lattice, and now and then 
one's nostrils are taunted with sweet fragrance from 
within. Nevertheless the full beauty of the garden 
cannot be known, nor can its perfume be enjoyed. 
So far as the world is concerned it is an untasted 
garden. Thousands go past it every day, but its 
blessings are too much fenced about to be of value 
to the world. Many lives are like that — they are 
untasted gardens. Their flowers bloom unseen, their 
perfume never reaches the passer-by. The wall is 
high and the gates are never open. Oh, that the north 
wind might blow, and the south wind also, upon those 
untasted gardens, that their spices might flow out and 
delight the world ! One would suppose that the gentle 
south wind would be enough to woo forth the spices 
of the garden. But it is not always so. Then the 
north wind must come, and blow with rigor upon the 
garden, before its spices will exude. Pain and sor- 
row will often draw forth the sweetness of an untasted 
garden, where joy and prosperity will leave it un- 
touched. 



SU NOVEMBER NINE 

fteal potoet 

" Ye shall receive power." Acts i :8. 

SOME of these men were fishermen! A few 
weeks ago they were toiling at their boats and 
nets on Galilee. Not one of them was an 
aristocrat ; not one of them had ever sat in the seats 
of the mighty. Yet Jesus talks to them about 
" power." We are so apt to associate power with 
the powerful. With us the race is apt to be with 
the swift. In world-thinking the battle goes to the 
strong battalions. Even Providence, according to a 
prominent military authority, cannot escape the 
allurement of strength. Yet in the world of men and 
things the falsity of this theory often appears. We 
discover, for instance, that a nation's strength lies 
not in armaments, but in the diligent pursuit of the 
arts and industries : that the strength of society lies 
not in display and self-aggrandizement, but in 
thoughtfulness, personal righteousness, and mutual 
service. Real power comes from above. This is 
how it is that weak things often become strong, and 
empty vessels full. The real question is, not how big 
a man is, but how good he is. The magnitude of a 
man's success is not important, but — is it honest 
and fair? Real power is a spiritual gift from on 
high. " Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit 
is come upon you." 



NOVEMBER TEN 315 

"Bountiful ©pes 

** He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed." 

Proverbs 22:9. 

A BOUNTIFUL eye ! That is, a free and gen- 
erous eye, one that does not see in niggardly 
and stingy fashion. A bountiful eye ! That 
is, one that overflows in seeing, one that does not find 
it hard to see. Of course such a one " giveth of his 
bread to the poor." When the eye is bountiful and 
sees large, the heart and the hand are apt to be 
bountiful too. It is tight eyes that make tight fists 
and hard hearts. Wide-open, bountiful eyes make 
liberal hearts. And there are few blessings that a 
man can enjoy in this world that are greater than 
the blessing of a liberal heart. Do not be afraid to 
keep your eyes open to opportunities of doing good. 
You shall not fail of your reward, for " he that hath 
a bountiful eye shall be blessed." It is a natural con- 
sequence. Generous seeing and liberal doing make 
the soul fat with blessings. But he who refuses to 
see the duties that belong to him shall suffer the 
shrinking of his own heart. It is a world of oppor- 
tunity in which we live. All about us are open doors 
to be entered, duties to be undertaken, burdens to be 
taken up. Much depends upon how we see. If we 
see narrowly, selfishly, we shall lose much. But 
bountiful seeing brings rich blessing. 



316 NOVEMBER ELEVEN 

ISrofeen pieces 

" Gather up the broken pieces which remain over." 

John 6:12. 

AND the Master added — "that nothing be 
lost." How prodigal he was in the miracle, 
but how careful of the remainder. He would 
have the multitude filled — " as much as they would " 
— but he would have no waste of his abundance. 
Our Lord was not above teaching a common lesson 
of economy as the aftermath of his great miracle. 
The twelve baskets filled with broken pieces are a 
perpetual rebuke to the waste and extravagance of 
men. No doubt they were put to some good use, 
for we can hardly think that our Lord did not have a 
practical purpose in view. It is well worth while to 
realize that Jesus is here giving his sanction, not to 
irritating economy, and certainly not to any form of 
penurious saving, but to the wise gathering of frag- 
ments. " That nothing be lost," he said — and that 
is the point of emphasis. God was in the miracle, 
and he must be honored in the care of the broken 
pieces. So God has to do with our substance even 
down to the last penny. We can honor him in spend- 
ing, and also in saving — " that nothing be lost." 
Our Heavenly Father has made a great abundance of 
things, but he has made nothing to be wasted. If 
our Lord was careful of the fragments, how much 
more should we also be careful. 



NOVEMBER TWELVE 317 

ejecting Difficult? 

"Pray without ceasing." I Thessalonians 5:17. 

HE who prays has power that others are bound 
to respect. " We bow to the man who 
kneels." It is strange how prayer gives us 
inward strength. Yet it has been proved so often 
and so strikingly in the lives of God's children that 
we cannot think of doubting it. We have seen Chris- 
tian men and women in the midst of overwhelming 
difficulty, and we have seen them rise and go for- 
ward with their burdens by the power of prayer. 
The world is full of trouble of many kinds. There- 
fore the apostle says, " Pray without ceasing." 
We need to be armed every moment against difficulty. 
Prayer knits together all the soul's forces. Prayer 
anchors our courage in God. Prayer brings God's 
aid to our side, so that our fight is no longer ours 
alone. The sense of God's companionship is the be- 
ginning of victory over trouble. Meet your difficul- 
ties with prayer! It is the way provided for us, and 
it is the best way. It is the only help that can be 
resorted to always and instantaneously. There are 
comparatively few human troubles that come so sud- 
denly as to prevent the use of prayer. God is so 
close to us always that we can speak to him with the 
quickness of thought. 



318 NOVEMBER THIRTEEN 

Wfozn tfie jFace Ligftts Qp 

" Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee." 

Numbers 6:25. 

IT is one of the joys of life to see the human 
face light up. One who saw Frances Willard as 
a college girl says that she was immediately im- 
pressed by the wonderful light in her face. More 
than we realize we live and have our joy in the light 
that we see in human faces. The " touch of a van- 
ished hand " and the " sound of a voice that is still " 
are not more precious to us than the light of a face 
withdrawn. Many of us are daily inspired by the 
memory of unclouded faces that have joined "the 
choir invisible." 

It does not surprise us then that the Scripture 
speaks so often of the light in the face of Jehovah. 
The threefold benediction in the Book of Numbers is 
memorable for this : " Jehovah make his face to 
shine upon thee." The Psalmist echoes it, " Lift 
thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." 
Again he praises God for " the help of his counte- 
nance." And again he speaks of the joy of walking 
" in the light of thy countenance." Paul also speaks 
of " the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ." If we look for the light 
of human faces, must we not also look for the light in 
the face of our God? If his face lights up then we 
are surely in the way. 



NOVEMBER FOURTEEN 319 

jFinOing SDne's Self 

"When he came to himself." Luke 15:17. 

A WRITER of our time tells a story of " The 
Ship that Found Herself." She was ready 
to sail, but her skipper said, " She has to 
find herself yet. She's all here, but the parts of her 
have not learned to work together yet." People as 
well as ships often require to find themselves. They 
are like the prodigal, who must needs come to him- 
self before he realized fully the situation in which he 
was. In a general way our usefulness depends upon 
whether we truly find ourselves. Many misfits come 
from the lack of it, square blocks in round holes. 
But there is a remedy even for misfits. One can truly 
find himself for the wrong place, that is, one can dis- 
cover and develop qualities of adaptation and en- 
durance that will make him useful in a place for which 
he was not at first intended. There are many who 
are called to do this — just to make the best of a 
difficult situation. But there are others whose cir- 
cumstances are quite favorable, yet they have never 
really found themselves. They go on fretting their 
lives away at useless things. The parts of their 
nature do not " work together." They have power 
for good, they have inward resources, but they do 
not find themselves. They fail to discover a true and 
high aim in life. 






320 NOVEMBER FIFTEEN 

©race in ©peecj) 

" Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with 
salt." Colossians 4:6. 

IT is one of the very finest things that the brothers 
and sisters of Christ can do in this world, and 
one of the best ways of recommending him to 
others, to put grace in their speech. Not to mis- 
understand, not to misjudge, not to love sharp speech 
for its own sake, not to be critics for the sake of 
being such, not to be " sizing people up " with the 
tongue, and cutting them up as with knives of speech 
(leave dissecting to doctors!), not to be killing 
people's feelings with deadly humor, not to be hurt- 
ing souls with epigrams, not to be rubbing sore spots 
with brine — not to do a score of things that some 
very good men and women are doing with their 
tongues with greater or less frequency every day of 
these years of our Lord. There are other murderous 
weapons than swords and stilettos. Words and 
epithets often contain murder. If you must use 
epithets with any fellow human, call him an " isosceles 
triangle," as Dean Swift did with a cursing fish-wife. 
That severe saying of Pascal, that " if people knew 
exactly what was said about them, there would not 
be four friends in the world," we trust was too severe. 
Yet often it seems that we are very busy talking un- 
kindly about those who dwell on the same planet with 
us. It is an occupation for heathen, not for re- 
deemed men and women. 



NOVEMBER SIXTEEN 321 

S©atttti)tai) of tije pans 

" And Mattithiah . . . had the office of trust over the 
things that were baked in pans." 

I Chronicles 9:31. 

HE was a Levite and the first-born son of 
Shallum the Korahite, the chief porter of 
the Lord's house. His task was seemingly 
not very important — he was to oversee the things 
that were baked in pans. Mattithiah of the baking- 
pans ! Nevertheless his position was regarded as an 
" office of trust." It might be thought a little thing 
to watch that nothing was overdone or underdone, 
to keep the heat right and the fuel plenty — in short 
to be a skillful baker — but he could feel always that 
it was a necessary part of the temple worship. Daily 
he would remind himself, as he bent over his humdrum 
work of filling the pans, that he held an " office of 
trust." The heads of the Lord's house, even the 
Great Head, depended upon him. If the cakes 
burned, or if the bread was doughy — the worship in 
the temple would be by so much less beautiful and less 
true. This is why it was an office of trust — he was 
entrusted with the duty of doing a common thing in 
the very highest way. One can bake bread, or sweep 
a room, or stand at the church door, or shake hands, 
or utter a word of greeting, or do any one of a num- 
ber of ordinary things — as an office of trust. 



322 NOVEMBER SEVENTEEN 

Disagreeable People 

"Judge not, that ye be not judged." Matthew 7:1. 

HOW can we get along with disagreeable 
people? There are many of them — at 
least there are many who have never been 
discovered to be agreeable people. It is fair to ask 
who are the disagreeable people. The question re- 
veals one of, the troubles. Our standards are not 
uniform. Besides they are apt to be wholly personal. 
Judged by your standard, I am a very disagreeable 
person indeed. As for you, I shall no doubt be able 
to return the compliment quickly enough. Our stand- 
ards are too artificial. We criticise our English 
cousins as being too self-satisfied. Our English 
friends think that we are almost too good-natured. 
Americans dwelling east of the Alleghanies look 
askance at the Great West — " A bit crude," while 
the Westerners are quick to reply, " Altogether too 
stiff." Dwellers in our dear old village are quite 
sure that the disagreeable people live in the next 
town. The residents of Velvet Avenue are none of 
them disagreeable. The disagreeables are all in some 
other quarter of the city. The truth is that we do 
not know one another well enough. We have many 
prejudices and a strong tendency to love ourselves 
better than others. The habit of judging others 
actually produces the disagreeable. The real test 
of success in this world, as far as relations with our 
fellow-men are concerned, is to be able to discover the 
agreeable inside the disagreeable. 



NOVEMBER EIGHTEEN 323 

Cfte Dag of ^rnall Cfnngs 

" Who hath despised the day of small things? " 

Zechariah 4:10. 

MANY things that we count small become large 
when seen in the right light. A small mo- 
ment if it be a moment of right decision. 
An insignificant deed, if it bear the stamp of a spirit- 
ual life. A little sentence or word, if it be spoken 
gently or grandly. A slight incident, if it teach an 
important lesson. An imperfect or partial thought, 
if it lead the way to a thought more perfect. A 
glimpse of truth, if it awaken a desire to know more 
truth. A grain of faith, if it be anxious to accumu- 
late more faith. Mark how the small things of life 
are constantly falling into God's multiplication-table 
and becoming greater. 

Meager material is no real barrier to success. 
" What is that in thy hand? " Make full use of the 
little you have, and wait upon the issue. A visitor 
in Dr. Wollaston's laboratory was disappointed when 
he found no elaborate workshop. He saw a tea-tray 
on a table, a few watch-glasses and some test paper, 
a balance and a blow-pipe. " There is all the labora- 
tory I have," said the student. Rittenhouse the 
astronomer calculated eclipses on the plow-handle ! 
Benjamin West's first artist's brushes were made 
from the cat's-tail! Stothard learned the art of 
combining colors from studying the wings of butter- 
flies ! " Who hath despised the day of small 
things?" 



w 



324 NOVEMBER NINETEEN 

fitting in Darkness 

" When I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto 
me." Micah 7:8. 

' 6 X IT THEN I sit in darkness." It is hard to 
walk in darkness, but it is harder still to 
sit in darkness. Nevertheless this is 
often our human lot. Times come when we can 
neither come nor go, we can only sit helpless and 
alone in the dark. Such experiences are a deep trial 
to the soul. Human fellowship is of no avail. The 
voice of one's friend cannot penetrate the veil. The 
touch of hand with hand is no longer real. A deep 
solitude and loneliness fills the heart. Yet in such 
hours my Lord is more than ever with me. I need 
not fear the darkness, for the darkness and the light 
are alike to him. All the secrets of the darkness are 
known to him, and all the fears of my heart likewise. 
He knows my shrinking and he measures all my ter- 
ror. It is when I sit in darkness that Jehovah loves 
to be a light unto me. " Jehovah is my light and my 
salvation, whom shall I fear? " The darkness only 
brings forth the light. " At eventide it shall be 
light." Jehovah will be a light! What a comfort 
is this to all who must suffer in silence, to all who 
must sit in the darkness of sorrow. There is no 
time so dark but that my Lord can illumine it by 
the light of his countenance. 



o 



NOVEMBER TWENTY 325 

Cften ©toto! 

" If ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." 

I Peter 2:3. 

< 6 /^\ TASTE and see that the Lord is good! " 
It is only necessary to taste of Christ, to 
apply the palate of the mind to him, to 
find how gracious he is. It is a sad state indeed 
when one has tasted of the heavenly gift, and of the 
good word of God, and the powers of the age to 
come, and has then fallen away. To taste of Christ 
and then to turn from him — what is this but to 
" crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an 
open shame"? God forbid! "If ye have tasted." 
What then? Do newborn babes require persuasion 
usually to desire the milk after they have once tasted 
it? So says the Apostle Peter, " as new-born 
babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without 
guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation." 
If your Lord has touched your palate, and made you 
glad, if he has satisfied your appetite — is that all? 
No, it is not enough to be glad in the Lord — you 
must also be strong in the Lord. Long for the 
spiritual milk, " that ye may grow thereby." 
There are many Christians who are like some new- 
born babes that lie upon their mothers' breasts and 
long constantly for milk, but do not grow strong to 
walk and work. If you have tasted — then grow! 



326 NOVEMBER TWENTY-ONE 

fl)ne Ctring 

"God is love." I John 4:8. 

WE have a Father in Heaven who loves us and 
is constantly thinking about us. Many 
persons are trying to be skeptical in these 
days. Some of them have spent an entire week on 
the subjects of God, and immortality, and sin, and 
have decided that there is nothing in these subjects 
worth bothering about. There are some things in 
the creeds which are optional, but there are a few 
simple truths that must not escape us. Start with 
the thought of human destiny, and see whither it will 
lead. It is the end of a golden cord that leads 
through the gate of heaven. 

" Man is one world, and hath 
Another to attend him." 

God has the name of every one of us on the roll of 
his memory. Victor Hugo wrote to his little girl 
from the sea-shore, telling her that he had walked on 
the beach and had written her name in the sand. 
" To-night," he said, " the rising tide will erase it, 
but nothing can ever erase your name from your 
father's heart." Don't think that this is preaching. 
It is just the common every-day fact that men should 
rejoice in all the time, that " God is love." 



NOVEMBER TWENTY-TWO 327 

Cfte ©Iorp of Concealment 

" It is the glory of God to conceal a thing." 

Proverbs 25:2. 

IT is a strange saying. Have we not usually 
thought of God as manifesting his glory by 
making known, by speaking, by revealing? Yet 
it is also true that there is a glory of concealment. 
It is true of the Being of God. No man can search 
out God or understand him altogether. " Lo, these 
are but the outskirts of his ways ; and how small a 
whisper do we hear of him ! " Ever the clouds and 
the darkness must be about him. It is true of the 
providence of God. His ways are higher than our 
ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts. How 
often the answer comes back to our searching gaze, 
" It is not for you to know." And it is so of our 
human life. It is the glory of God to conceal many 
things from us. ** Now I know in part." Else how 
would there be any wonder left, or any mystery ? If 
God opened everything to our view and made every- 
thing known, how great would be our loss. We 
should lose all the sense of depth in life. If we knew 
all, then there would be no reserve, nothing beyond, 
nothing greater and deeper. It is the glory of God 
to reveal, but it is also his glory to conceal. " What 
I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt under- 
stand hereafter." 



328 NOVEMBER TWENTY-THREE 

" We will go with you, for we have heard that God is 
with you." Zechariah 8:23. 

A TRUE Christian life is the strongest per- 
sonal force in the world. The world ac- 
knowledges its attractions, however it may 
disbelieve its doctrines. It is not argument so much 
that convinces men of Christian truth as it is 
believers whose lives are eloquent of the truth. The 
world is not won by syllogisms, but by personal- 
ities. When men are convinced that God is with a 
man, a new respect is born within them. They feel 
the protection of such a life, like " the shadow of a 
great rock in a weary land." We are ready to open 
our hearts to such a one, and to bring our troubles 
to him. We are ready to go with him because he is 
not walking in darkness. His life is safeguarded 
by God ; his character is built upon the Rock of Ages. 
If there is anything in the world that can be trusted, 
it is a life that has been washed in the blood of Jesus 
Christ. Men who have God in their lives are the 
most valuable asset of the community. They bring 
the beauty and sincerity of godly living into the 
realm of practical affairs. They touch us with the 
power of a radiant personality. They convince us 
by the persuasiveness of actual godliness. 



NOVEMBER TWENTY-FOUR 329 

Cfte Lato of l&ettirn 

" Thy dealing shall return upon thine own head." 

Obadiah 1:15. 

THE Greeks had a story of a lad who returned 
to his mother to tell a strange experience. 
He had cried aloud and a voice had answered 
him. Then he cursed, and the voice had cursed back 
at him. The lad was very indignant, but his mother 
was wise and knew what to say. " Go back," she 
said, " and shout a benediction," and when he had 
done so, lo ! the benediction returned to him. We 
are apt to forget how automatic in its action is the 
law of the return of evil. There is some irresistible 
power that sends evil back to its source. " Curses 
like chickens come home to roost." A heart that 
wills evil to another brings itself under the penalty. 
" Thy dealing shall return upon thine own head." 
But happily benedictions also return. A good wish 
or deed sent forth to meet the life of a fellow-man 
returns to refresh the heart of him who gave it birth. 
" Cast thy bread upon the waters ; thou shalt find it 
again after many days." This finding of scattered 
bread is one of the sweet experiences of life. It is 
the premium which God puts upon benevolence, gen- 
erosity, hospitality, and all the disinterested virtues. 
Give, and it shall be given unto you. Send, and it 
shall be sent unto you. Love, and you shall be loved. 



330 



NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIVE 



"And guided them on every side." II Chronicles 32:22. 

JEHOVAH saved his people, and guided them 
on every side. Our dangers lie in more than 
one direction, but God guides us " on every 
side." " The angel of Jehovah encampeth round 
about us " to deliver us. His care is not one-sided, 
but many-sided. It must needs be so, for our life 
has many besetments. We are often told that life is 
quite simple. In reality life is very complex. There 
are many windings and turnings, and there are many 
sins which do " easily beset us." If God's guidance 
were any less comprehensive than it is, it would be 
wholly inadequate. On every side ! Yes, on the side 
of the unseen danger, as well as on the side of the 
known danger. There are dangers that lie out in 
the open, and in a way we can prepare ourselves for 
them. But there are other perils that walk like the 
pestilence in darkness, and we are not even aware of 
their presence. There are moral dangers as well as 
physical dangers, that lurk in dark places. But God 
guides us on every side — on the dark side as well as 
on the light side. What a j oy it is to know that God 
directs our steps even when we are not aware of 
our need. The darkness and the light are alike to 
him. Trust him for the unknown way. 






NOVEMBER TWENTY-SIX 331 

mufet ffllaitiw 

" It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for 
the salvation of Jehovah." 

Lamentations 3:26. 

HOPE and quietly wait ! Is it not a sufficient 
philosophy for any soul? They are cause 
and effect. If we truly have that hope which 
is an anchor of the soul, we can then quietly wait. 
But are we not often full of impatience and anxiety? 
Are we not often eager to obtain results before the 
time? Quiet waiting is most difficult. It requires 
courage and a mighty hope. But " it is good that a 
man should hope and quietly wait." Why is it good? 
Because one can well afford to trust God absolutely. 
He will bring it to pass. Do not question his wis- 
dom or his love. If the time be long for the coming 
of the dawn, yet wait quietly by the strength of your 
trust. It is good also to hope and wait quietly, be- 
cause one grows in his inner life by quiet waiting. It 
may be that hope deferred makes the heart sick, but 
that is not the last effect with those that love God. 
Quiet waiting and trusting works its own results in 
character. We grow more childlike and simple, more 
expectant, more dependent. We live not in the pres- 
ent alone, but in the greater days of God that are to 
come. We are children not of the mist and the dark- 
ness, but children of the promise and the dawn. 



332 NOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVEN 

" And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day." 

Revelation 21:25. 

OPEN gates ! Open gates ! Man believes in 
shut gates. God believes in open gates. 
The revelator expressly says, as if to prevent 
misunderstanding, that the gates of the city shall in 
no wise be shut. Why does he take pains to say 
this? There is a life lesson in these open gates of 
the New Jerusalem. The pattern of things heavenly 
is to be let down into the earth. 

Some think that the gates of life are all shut. 
Some grim power, like fate, or sorrow, or disappoint- 
ment, or sin, has come in the night-time and swung 
the great portals to. There has been no creaking 
of hinges, no slamming of doors, no jarring of posts ; 
but somehow the gates of life have been closed. It 
is a pitiful thing for any soul to think that the gates 
are shut. Hear this good word of the Scripture: 
" The gates shall in no wise be shut." Open gates ! 
Open gates ! Think of the gates that are open, not 
to be shut at all. The Gate of Improvement ! The 
Gate of Usefulness ! The Gate of Communion ! 
The Gate of Repentance ! The Gate of Faith ! The 
Gate of Happiness ! Yes, even this last gate is not 
shut. God puts an angel at every gate. The angel 
that stands at. the Gate of Happiness is Love. 
" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? " 



NOVEMBER TWENTY-EIGHT 333 

Voices 

"She obeyed not the voice." Zephaniah 3:2. 

THAT was Jerusalem's sad mistake. God 
sent many voices to his people. There was 
the voice of the law that was given on Sinai — 
u thou shalt not." The voices of prophets were also 
quite unmistakable. Yet " she obeyed not the voice." 
Was ever a more lamentable verdict written? God 
sends voices to speak to every life. The influences 
of ancestry — are they not like voices ? " Your 
father's God ! " " Your mother's prayers ! " " Your 
birthright of faith." Thus speak the voices of the 
generations. And early training — there are voices 
that arise out of the first environment. " Abide 
thou in the things which thou hast learned." There 
are inner voices too, that seem to come out of the 
depths. Now it is the voice of conscience that speaks. 
Again it is the voice of circumstance that speaks 
— out of the very heart of things we seem to hear 
articulate calls and warnings. Again something 
deeper cries out within us — it is the voice of life 
itself. It speaks the language of love or longing — 
of awe or fear. There are also voices of the night. 
When the soul lives in a vast solitude of sorrow — 
there are voices for such a time as this. These are 
winsome voices — the wooing notes of divine love — 
calling the soul to its rest in God. There is yet 
another voice — :" the still small voice." 



334 NOVEMBER TWENTY-NINE 

MJftat tfje i£>eart mnotos 

" I know him whom I have believed." II Timothy 1:12. 

IT is our experience of Christ that makes us so 
sure about him, and makes him so precious to 
our souls. He has touched our eyes and made 
us see many things that else we had not seen. He has 
unstopped our deaf ears so that we can hear heav- 
enly harmonies that else we had not dreamt of. He 
has taken us by the hand and led us by a companion- 
able way. He has told us secrets of life that were 
wholly new to us, and he has sent his Spirit into our 
hearts to give us deeper revealings of love and power. 
There is not money enough in all the banks to buy 
my experience of the love and grace of God in Christ. 
" I know " — and all the philosophers that have ever 
lived cannot rob me of what my heart has learned. 
I live in my experience of Christ. " It is no longer 
I that live, but Christ liveth in me." No man can 
shake me on the subject of Jesus Christ. I know him 
through my personal relation with him. He has come 
into my life and has wrought his miracles there. He 
has made himself known to me in the deepest needs of 
my soul, he has spoken to me in the most real things 
of my life. How can I doubt him? He is the Way, 
the Truth, and the Life to me. 



NOVEMBER THIRTY 335 

jForgotten TSeneffts 

" In everything give thanks." I Thessalonians 5:18. 

IT is necessary to heed this broad injunction, be- 
cause we are always in danger of overlooking 
reasons for thanksgiving. There are forgotten 
benefits and unnoticed blessings that require to be 
caught up in memory from time to time and made the 
special subject of gratitude. A godly woman once 
said in a prayer-meeting that she was thankful for 
matches. She was old enough to remember the time 
when such conveniences were lacking. Her answer 
brings to mind a long list of forgotten benefits, such as 
glass in our windows, and inexpensive letter postage. 
We still remember from time to time to be thankful 
for the telegraph and the telephone, because they are 
comparatively new. When things grow old and com- 
monplace they are apt to become unnoticed blessings. 
Charles Lamb reminded us that we ought now and 
then to say grace over good books as well as over our 
daily food. " In everything give thanks ! " A busi- 
ness man said that he was thankful that he had a 
" mind to work." What about friendship, and oppor- 
tunity, and travel, and worship, and difficulty, and 
the use of reason? A well-known minister used to 
say that he liked to walk on Fifth Avenue at Christ- 
mas time and look into the show windows, thinking of 
the things he could do without! Do we remember to 
thank God for the troubles that have not come to us ? 



336 DECEMBER ONE 

Puttmg SDff ana putting 2Dn 

" Put off the old man . . . Put on the new man." 

Colossians 3:9, 10. 

BUT remember that in order to put off success- 
fully you must put on. You are a strong 
man. Yet how often you have been van- 
quished by some poor little habit. How many times 
you have dismissed it, and how many times it has 
come back again, The way to put off the old man 
successfully is to put on the new man, and keep put- 
ting hvm on. Drive out the old with the new, and 
never stop driving it out. Is it any wonder that the 
old unspiritual things keep coming back? You have 
not built up your defenses. Be filled with the Spirit. 
Pray without ceasing. Grow in grace. You have 
not filled in where you took away. You have not oc- 
cupied your soul with the deeds of the new man. You 
have not kept yourself busy with the affairs of the 
Kingdom. Let the peace of Christ rule in your 
heart! Small room for anger,' malice, bickering, 
fault-finding, railing, when Christ's peace is deciding 
things — ruling in your heart. Let the Word of 
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom! Little 
danger that the problems of life shall prove too much 
for you when Christ's word and teaching are enrich- 
ing your soul. Singing with grace in your heart 
unto God ! Little likelihood that you will grow mor- 
bid and hopeless when you are doing that. 



DECEMBER TWO 337 

Cfie Door of J^ope 

" And I will give her . . . the valley of Achor for a 
door of hope." Hosea 2:15. 

THERE are echoes of Achan here and the Baby- 
lonish garment and the wedge of gold. It 
was in the valley of Achor that Achan per- 
ished for his sin. " Wherefore the name of that 
place was called the valley of Achor (or Troubling) 
unto this day." But now the promise to God's 
people through the prophet Hosea is — " I will give 
her the valley of Troubling for a door of hope." In 
other words, the memory of death and sin and desola- 
tion shall be blotted out, and a door of hope shall 
open right out from the Valley of Troubling. There 
is many a Valley of Troubling in life which God can 
turn into a Door of Hope. He can take our sin, 
however black it may be, and build a door of hope 
out of the darkness into the light. " Though your 
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as wool." 
So wonderful is the Redemption which God has pro- 
vided, " who delivered us out of the power of dark- 
ness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son 
of his love." And what a transformation our God 
can work also in the Valley of Sorrow. He can take 
our deepest troubling and show us a door of hope 
opening out of it into a larger faith and a larger 
life. 



338 DECEMBER THREE 

Daps of ©oon CtOings 

" Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that 
bringeth good tidings." 

Nahum 1:15. 

ARE we as mindful as we ought to be of our days 
of good tidings? Are we as thankful as we 
ought to be for good news received? Our 
minds tend so much to magnify the evils of life and 
to minimize the good things. The days on which 
evil tidings came stand out like mountain peaks in 
our memories. The days of good tidings are like 
neglected hillocks. It should be the other way. The 
days of good tidings should stand out in fervent and 
grateful memory, and should tend to create for us 
a true atmosphere of cheer and gratitude. After all 
how many days of good tidings God gives to us. The 
day of recovery from sickness, the day of escape 
from great peril, the day of the completion of a long 
journey, the day of love's dawn in the heart, the day 
of restored friendship, the day of the return of a loved 
one, the day of a gracious invitation, the day of 
fruition in toil, the day of returning prosperity, the 
day of an open door of opportunity, the day of a 
friend's success, the day of discovery after long 
search, the day of a wise decision, the day of unex- 
pected results, the day of hope's reward, and many 
more. 



DECEMBER FOUR 339 

Cfje TSmtitMt of S©ercp 

" Blessed are the merciful." Matthew 5 «7« 

MERCY is the hand-maiden of the gospel, 
the sweet sister of faith. But why limit 
the scope of mercy? Why not extend the 
benefits of the Beatitude of mercy to the dumb 
creatures also that live in the world with us? The 
fact that they are dumb is in part their claim upon 
us. They know no language of remonstrance, no 
logic of protest. God made them dependent upon 
men, and all the more so that they have been domesti- 
cated. Men have no right to abuse their children, 
neither have they any right to abuse their domestic 
animals. Lessons of mercy to dumb creatures should 
be a part of every child's early instruction. Teach, 
not mere mastery over lower animals, but responsi- 
bility, obligation, care. Guard against small cruel- 
ties and every sort of wantonness, even in sport. 
One of the last faults to linger in the human breast 
is brutality toward weak things. Only a burning, 
shining light, like that of Christ's Beatitude of mercy, 
can search out its lair in the heart. " Blessed are 
the merciful." I hear Jesus saying this to the mas- 
ters, not of men only, but of dumb creatures also. 
Hear the clatter of horses' feet! How weary they 
must be. How long the hours. How slippery the 
streets in winter. How hard the collar presses and 
the bit in the mouth. How nervous the faithful ani- 
mals are. Remember the Beatitude of mercy. 



340 DECEMBER FIVE 

2Dut Dearest Desire 

" Thou shalt not build me a house ... He shall build 
me a house." 

I Chronicles 17:4, 12. 

IT was the dearest wish of David's heart to build 
a temple unto Jehovah, " a house of rest for 
the ark of the covenant." When he looked 
upon his own house of cedar, and remembered that 
the ark dwelt under curtains, his heart smote him, 
and he said, " I will arise and build." Then the 
prophet Nathan received the word of the Lord. 
" Go and tell David my servant, Thou shalt not build 
me a house — but he, thy son Solomon, he shall build 
me a house." It was a severe blow to David that his 
dearest desire should be denied. Yet he accepted it 
loyally and went on preparing for the building. It 
was not his to build, but it was his to prepare. Iron 
and brass and stones and cedar-trees he assembled 
in great quantity. God gave him also the pattern 
of the temple " by the Spirit," even down to the last 
golden bowl. Before he died he placed everything 
in the hands of Solomon, saying, " Be strong and of 
good courage, and do it." Many times it is not 
given to us to do the thing that lies upon our hearts. 
Yet we may prepare. It is ours to keep the ideal 
inviolate and untarnished through the years, await- 
ing the time when another shall build. David did 
not build the temple, but he wrote the Psalms. 



DECEMBER SIX 341 

Cime'0 pealing 

" After two days will he revive us: on the third day he 
will raise us up." Hosea 6:2. 

THERE are some troubles so great that they 
seem likely to blast life forever. They are 
like mildew, and there is no longer any 
health in us. The canker of sorrow has come, and 
there is no relief whatsoever. We look upon this 
side and upon that and we say, " No man careth 
for my soul." Even God seems to have withdrawn 
his face. The remainder of life will be but labor 
and sorrow. We look forward to the years with 
dread forebodings of desolation. How can we endure 
the long road of sorrow? The years will drag them- 
selves out, and one day will be like another. The 
pain at the heart will never cease, neither will the 
pressure of the burden pass away. 

Meantime the great ministry of time is at work 
within us. The healing of the passing days begins 
unnoticed. " After two days will he revive us." 
It is marvelous how strength is given to us to live 
day by day, and soon we observe the quickening of 
hope. " On the third day he will raise us up." If 
we trust him God will bring us up out of the miry 
clay and will establish our feet on the Rock of Ages. 
" Weeping may tarry for the night, but j oy cometh 
in the morning." God has a wondrous art of heal- 
ing through the ministry of time. 



342 DECEMBER SEVEN 



C6e ©totting 



" And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the 
eventide." Genesis 24:63. 



M 



4 ' 1\ /¥"AN goeth forth unto his work and to his 
labor until the evening." And the even- 
ing is his time of pause between labor and 
rest. It is the time to think back over the day and 
to reckon with its opportunities and its obligations. 
And it is also the time to strengthen the thews of 
one's soul for the battle and labor of another day. 
We give ourselves too little time to meditate. Our 
hasting age keeps saying to us, " Move on ! " We 
are tempted not to think at all, only to act: and 
action without a background of meditation suffers 
a certain dangerous poverty that robs the world of 
its due. It is a fine art of life to know how to use 
the evenings of our days, to make them servants of 
the inner life. There are some who waste their even- 
ings sinfully. If inquisition were held it would be 
impossible to find where or how this precious portion 
of the cycle of hours had contributed in any manner 
to the true welfare of the soul. The evening is the 
time to know books and friends, and more than all it 
is the time to cultivate the society of one's own 
household. It is the time to deepen one's thought, 
and to broaden one's horizon — in short to grow 
wealthy by meditation. 



DECEMBER EIGHT 343 

Cfiete ate H3o Crtfles 

" There are four things which are little upon the 
earth." Proverbs 30:24. 

LITTLE things count wonderfully in this 
great world. Turns and inflections of the 
voice, phrases of speech, changes and ex- 
pressions of the face, slight ways and attitudes, 
hand-pressures, greetings in the street, letter-writ- 
ing, and many other little unnumbered acts of the 
soul are all of vast importance. A smile — " that 
million-hued miracle called a smile " — what a place 
it occupies in this frowning old world! There are 
really no trifles. No wonder the Book of Proverbs 
calls attention to ants and conies, locusts and liz- 
ards. The wiser men grow, the more they learn to 
take care of little things. Courtesy is made up of 
small remembrances. Kindness is not a thing of 
great occasions. Little books are often mighty 
among us. A slight task graciously and hand- 
somely done thrills the heart as does a deed of battle. 
A small occasion may be glorified by the earnest 
spirit of an action. A place of much limitation 
and many handicaps may be made a place of power. 
A plain face and a life of only average capacity 
may have a part to play in history. God has laid 
great stress upon little things. Why should we 
worry ourselves so with striving after great things? 
There are a few days that contain great events. 
Most of the hours and days are crowded with little 
things. 



344 DECEMBER NINE 

Cfte jFar Countrp 

" The younger son gathered all together and took his 
journey into a far country." 

Luke 15:13. 

THERE is more than one way of being lost. 
There is more than one way of being a 
prodigal. There is more than one road that 
leads to the far country. One may take his journey 
into the far country by drifting, that is, by simply 
yielding to the current. One who does not hold 
his own way, who does nothing to stem the current, 
is ever in danger of the far country. He is not a 
violent prodigal, he is only a prodigal of neglect. 
Thus one may drift into the far country by neglect- 
ing the cultivation of his spiritual life. The spir- 
itual life of the soul requires to be conserved. One 
must defend and feed it daily else it may ooze away 
through lack of care. We have seen this tragic loss 
of the spiritual life more than once. We have seen 
souls drifting carelessly with the tide. No energy, 
no conservation, no resistance — and ere they know 
it they had drifted into the far country. For 
the far country is simply a state of distance and 
separation from God. One need not be a companion 
of swine to be in the far country away from his 
God. The far country is very close at hand. It is 
not far from the altars of the church, and indeed 
every pew has its private entrance. 






DECEMBER TEN 345 

Cratielers' Sharks 

" For they that say such things make it manifest that 
they are seeking after a country of their own." 

Hebrews 11:14. 

TRAVELERS in foreign lands often return 
with their valises and trunks covered with 
the marks of the cities they have visited. 
But to all lovers of God it is given to bear travelers' 
marks of the country to which they are going. 
They bear about in their bodies " the marks of the 
Lord Jesus." Their faces betoken great expecta- 
tions, and their eyes have the glint of many a sweet 
promise. Their voices are attuned to the songs of 
pilgrimage and their ears are quick to detect heav- 
enly harmonies. Their hands are hardened with the 
toil of the Kingdom, and their feet are " shod with 
the preparation of the gospel of peace." Their 
" citizenship is in heaven." They are strangers and 
pilgrims here. Even their accent contains the 
promise of another country. Because they are on 
the way to a better country they have begun already 
to speak the language of that country. They say 
" such things " as make this manifest. But truly 
the best of all marks of the better country to which 
they are going is found in the interest they take in 
the people of their present home. Their love for 
others and their concern for the welfare of their 
fellow-men in this world tell in terms that cannot be 
mistaken the standards of citizenship in the better 
land. 



346 DECEMBER ELEVEN 

E3!mt e©onep Can Do 

" The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah 
of hosts." Haggai 2:8. 

THEREFORE let the silver and the gold find 
hallowed uses. Let them do the common 
work of life, buying our daily food and our 
clothing and our books, and maintaining our busi- 
ness, and providing for our entertainment and our 
travel. And in all these things let the use of money 
be never an unhallowed use. Let it be the support 
of character and the servant of virtue. For truly 
the most innocent thing a man can be doing is to be 
making money and spending it too, provided that 
he understands well that money has much to do 
with our life now and hereafter. And while the 
silver and the gold are doing these ordinary things 
of life and business, let them find other hallowed uses. 
Let them go forth to do constructive things in the 
world. For money is a great builder. It can enter 
into waste places and make them blossom as the rose. 
It can manage philanthropies and construct institu- 
tions ; it can repair breaches and restore lost things. 
It can do ten thousand works of righteousness and 
peace and good-will. Put it into the harness of the 
Kingdom, yoke it with love and sympathy, and how 
great its energies will become for good and goodness. 
Money is power for usefulness. 



DECEMBER TWELVE 347 

a Crp for jFreeOom 

" They shall not be sold as bondmen." Leviticus 25:42. 

6 6 1 .^OR they are my servants, whom I brought 
H forth out of the land of Egypt." What 
a travesty if they who had been in bond- 
age in Egypt should afterwards begin to sell one 
another into bondage. Jehovah forbade bondage in 
Israel on the ground that they had all suffered 
bondage and been delivered. We who have been 
set free in the liberty which Christ gives — ought 
we not to become eager advocates of the same lib- 
erty for other men? We know what bondage is. 
Let us stand among our fellow-men in the world and 
proclaim the right of all men to be free in Christ 
Jesus, who died for all. What pity it should strike 
within the souls of all of us who are free men and 
women in Christ to see how the shackles are being 
placed upon many about us. There are times when 
we must cry aloud — " They shall not be sold as 
bondmen." Let us cry out for the young men of 
the land, as we see them going forth into the world 
with all its temptations — " They shall not be sold 
as bondmen." But our cry for freedom in behalf 
of other men must be more than a sentimental cry. 
It must be the cry of souls that hunger and thirst 
for the full salvation of all for whom Christ died. 



348 DECEMBER THIRTEEN 

It 30 H3ot tfte Cime 

" This people say, It is not the time . . . for Jehovah's 
house to be built." Haggai 1:2. 

GOD was ready before the people were. The 
Temple lay in waste, but the people thought 
it was not yet time to build. So they re- 
tarded the work, until the prophet Haggai was sent 
to stir them up to begin. " It is not the time." 
This sentiment checks the progress of many a good 
cause. All things must be completely ready. Ob- 
stacles must be entirely removed. There must be 
no lions in the pathway, no " impossibles " any- 
where in view. If God had waited for such a time 
the work would never have begun. Instead he said 
to the people through the prophet — " Consider 
your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring 
wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure 
in it." " It is not the time ! " That withers cour- 
age, and shrinks endeavor; that takes the wind out 
of the sails, and chills the blood. The beginning of 
a good work requires a spirit of venture and enter- 
prise. " Nothing venture, nothing win." Let us 
up and build! That wins the way against difficulty 
and obstacle. That fires the blood with enthusiasm 
and courage. That sings the song of victory before 
the victory has begun. God is more ready than we 
are. It is long since time to build. Why do we 
retard the work by delay and hesitation? Why 
do we withhold our hands from the beginning? 



DECEMBER FOURTEEN 349 

Dailp Calk 

" By thy words thou shalt be condemned." 

Matthew 12:37. 

THE influence of words in this world of sensi- 
tive hearts is beyond calculation. Innocent 
as they seem to be they nevertheless consti- 
tute a court of judgment in which the souls of men 
are daily tried either for justification or condemna- 
tion. It is a solemn thing to realize that our words 
sit in judgment upon us. We may find it easy to 
admit this to be true on the great occasions, when 
language is very clearly " the great human con- 
fessional." It is just in our ordinary talk, however, 
that we reveal our true selves. It is in daily talk 
that we come into close contact with our fellow-men. 
A few words dropped in conversation may comfort 
the soul like medicine, or sear it like a red-hot iron. 
Words travel far, and they go very deep. Their 
fragrance lingers for many a day; their sting also 
remains like the sting of a nettle. A maker of lenses 
for telescopes had completed a very valuable lens 
after long labor. A party of his friends was going 
through his workshop shortly afterwards, and one 
of the party touched the surface of the lens. It re- 
quired six months of labor to remove the effect of 
that touch! Harder than this it is to remove the 
sting of unkind or unjust words. 



350 DECEMBER FIFTEEN 

Prafee for Common %>tmt 

" Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten 
rulers that are in a city." 

Ecclesiastes 7:19. 

GOD be praised for the gift of that practical 
wisdom which is called Common Sense. One 
man who possesses it holds ten rulers at a 
disadvantage. He who has common sense has where- 
with to buy himself out of prisons of difficulty, and 
to make his way along highways of peril. Nature 
may decree impassable barriers, but Common Sense 
will find a way. Philosophy may be compelled to 
hang her head, but Common Sense has penetration 
and practical intelligence. " This now is the mean- 
ing of things," says Common Sense, and all men see 
immediately how true the statement is. The power 
of common intelligence goes to the heart of things, 
not by reason and logic, but by the mind's instinct. 
If we possess this gift, let us thank God who giveth 
to all men liberally and upbraideth not. If he has 
denied us wealth and fame and even education, but 
has given us Common Sense, he has indeed richly en- 
dowed us. We have then a fair measurement for 
all that this world contains. We shall be spared the 
frequent folly of false judgment, and narrow preju- 
dice. We shall more easily estimate the plans of 
men, and more readily measure their enterprises. 
And often we shall be delivered from mistake by 
simple, unerring judgments. God be praised for 
Common Sense! 



DECEMBER SIXTEEN 351 

mm ProuDf 

" The king himself is served by the field." 

Ecclesiastes 5:9. 

WE are all dependent upon many things. 
Even the king is dependent upon the field 
that supplies his needs. Royalty is not 
exempt from the law which binds others. Every 
day we summon scores of servants to our aid, the 
air, the sunlight, the dew, the rain, the food, the 
drink, the wool, the cotton. The king himself can- 
not enjoy his banquet without the aid of the miller, 
and back of the miller is the grain, and back of the 
grain is the field. It is strange that we ever grow 
independent and selfish, and proud and self-confi- 
dent. As if we really owned anything or did any- 
thing by our unaided strength! We require the 
law of gravitation to help us crack a nut. We 
cannot build a fire without the aid of a dozen 
agencies of nature. We cannot walk downtown 
without the co-operation of many different laws and 
sciences. It is said to be a rule of the Franciscan 
order that when a brother has preached an unusually 
eloquent sermon, he is set next morning to paring 
potatoes for breakfast. He is not permitted to for- 
get in his pride of success that he is still an ordinary 
mortal, bound to common tasks, and dependent upon 
many things. If one is tempted to pride of condi- 
tion, let him but reflect at the close of the day at 
how many turns his very life depended upon laws 
and facts beyond his control. 



352 DECEMBER SEVENTEEN 

30 tfte MJorlO ©totoing TSttttti 

" Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days 
were better than these? " 

Ecclesiastes 7:10. 

WE are not to say this, because saying it 
colors our feeling. One can say a thing 
over and over until at length he holds it 
to be true. So the wise man here declares that it is 
not well to utter any sentiment of distrust as to the 
progress of the world. The question as to whether 
the world is growing better or worse is not so much 
a question of fact as it is a question of sentiment 
and faith. The world is better or worse according 
to our personal attitude. If you keep saying that 
it is worse, then it is doubtless so to you, and you 
may make it so to others. There are a good many 
persons who feel called upon to talk the world down, 
to decry progress. What we should do is to talk 
the world up. Speak hopefully and work hard. 
Do not depreciate, do not despair.. Look not back- 
wards for the Golden Age, but forwards. Look up- 
wards, not downwards, " and lend a hand ! " The 
world is not worse to-day if you and I are at work. 
The world is better to-day if we are doing our duty, 
helping with the problems, and driving back the 
darkness. 



DECEMBER EIGHTEEN 353 

€f)e ^eart'0 IStlitt 

" I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Mark 9:24. 

RELIGION often means encouragement and 
hope before it means doctrine and belief. 
When the Lord said to the father of the 
demoniac child, " All things are possible to him that 
believeth," the man cried out immediately, " I be- 
lieve." It was scarcely yet a full-fledged belief that 
he felt, but it was belief founded on encouragement. 
His heart responded to the wonderful hope held out 
by the Master. He was conscious of the incom- 
pleteness of his faith, for he said, " Help thou mine 
unbelief." We are too quick to call men unbe- 
lievers who are lacking in the full acceptance of doc- 
trine. Unbelievers they may be in some items of the 
creed, but not unbelievers in religion. Their hearts 
are eager for the benedictions of religion. Their 
souls are hungry for spiritual grace. They know 
that Christ is the master of power and love. Some 
men come to God's light by pathways of difficulty. 
These must often beat their way against many ob- 
stacles into spiritual grace. Others come by way 
of the heart's longings and feelings. They are be- 
lievers already, even as this father was. Their souls 
accept without question the encouragement of 
Christ. Their needs and their sorrows have pre- 
pared the way of the Lord. They know not the 
doctrine, but they know the Lord. They have 
heard the word of his power. Call no man quickly 
an unbeliever. 



354 DECEMBER NINETEEN 

Cfie ajmeali^ed presence 

" And he said unto them, Why are ye fearful? Have ye 
not yet faith? " Mark 4:40. 

JESUS was there all the time in the boat, but 
the disciples did not realize his presence. Do 
you remember Scott's thrilling description of 
the siege in " Ivanhoe " ? There was one figure that 
seemed to be always in the thick of the conflict. 
It was the Black Knight! The knowledge that he 
was there cheered the watchers in the tower and gave 
them the hope of victory. If we could but realize 
that our dear Lord is always with us, the good cheer 
of victory would never leave us. Did he not say, 
"Lo! I am with you always " ? Wherever the con- 
flict is severest, or the darkness deepest, there the 
Great Captain of our Salvation is sure to be. He 
will not desert his own, and the light on his face 
betokens victory. The father of Robert Louis 
Stevenson was once on board ship in a great storm. 
All passengers were below with the hatches down. 
When the storm was at its height, Stevenson went 
on deck, and presently returned and reported, " We 
will come safely into port: I saw the pilot in the 
storm and he smiled." The storm may be heavy, 
but our Pilot is strong and true. He knows the 
perils of the storm, and he also knows the way of 
safety. He is " able to save to the uttermost ! " 
" Why are ye fearful? " 



DECEMBER TWENTY -355 

a Ogoofe of Kemembtance 

" And a book of remembrance was written before him." 

Malachi 3:16. 

FOR whom ? " For them that feared Jehovah, 
and that thought upon his name." Blessed 
be God, there is a book of remembrance for 
every good thing. It startles one to think how 
meager the record may be, but it also encourages 
one to think how rich and full it may be made. 
Of one thing we can be sure, nothing that is really 
worth while will be missed in the book of remem- 
brance. " Not the least kernel shall fall upon the 
earth." Our fear of Jehovah and our thought upon 
his name shall all find record here. All our sensi- 
tive regard for God's law, our delicate reverence for 
his Word, our deep respect for his will — all this 
will be recorded luminously on its pages. We are 
told also that Jehovah hearkened and heard when 
" they that feared Jehovah spake one with another." 
And then a book of remembrance was written before 
him! Can it be that this book will record thmgs 
heard in this world, as well as things done? Can it 
be that the true fragrance of our conversation will 
be caught up and preserved? Can it be that our 
gentleness, our brotherliness, our spirituality, our 
grace in every-day talk, will be delicately held in 
store in the book of remembrance? Can it be that 
the simplest word we speak here for Christ will be 
repeated there? 



356 DECEMBER TWENTY-ONE 

C&e dueen of %btto 

" Behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was 
not told me." II Chronicles 9:6. 

IT was the fame of Solomon " concerning the 
name of Jehovah " that brought the Queen of 
Sheba to Jerusalem. When she saw for her- 
self, she declared that the half had not been told. 
" Thou exceedest the fame that I heard." Her en- 
thusiasm is contagious even down to this day. 
" Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy serv- 
ants, that stand continually before thee, and hear 
thy wisdom." It was just this full-hearted response 
of the queen to the greatness of Solomon that our 
Lord said would rise up and condemn his generation. 
" She came from the ends of the earth to hear the 
wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than 
Solomon is here." There are some who never really 
admire. The " wonder and bloom of the world " 
never stirs their enthusiasm. They can look upon 
" the flower in the crannied wall," and never show 
any wonder. Beauty does not stir them; grandeur 
does not make their hearts leap. They have never 
known the eager joy of the soul at the dawn of 
knowledge. They have never cried out in the pres- 
ence of a grand truth or personality — " The half 
was not told." A greater than Solomon is here! 
Yet some have not let their souls run after him in 
abandon of admiration. The queen of the south 
shall rise up and judge them for their lack of en- 
thusiasm. 



DECEMBER TWENTY-TWO 357 

3nB in WLintzx 

" In summer and in winter shall it be." Zechariah 14:8. 

GOD'S love is not intermittent. In the sum- 
mer of our obedience his love is at work, and 
not less so in the winter of our rebellion. It 
is not his way to mark the seasons of our greatest 
tenderness and to open his heart in largest measure 
then. Often it is when we are hard and resistant 
in our attitude that he draws nearest to us. Sum- 
mer time in the heart seems more favorable for the 
divine working, but God forgets us not in the frozen 
days of winter in the soul. When we went far away 
from him, and grew hard in forgetfulness and neg- 
lect, he followed us and sought after us, determined 
that winter should not overtake us uncared for and 
alone. " In summer and in winter shall it be." 
Summer is prosperity; winter is defeat and sorrow. 
" I will be with thee when thou passest through the 
deep waters." Let us be grateful that our God re- 
members all the winters of our years. " Cast all your 
care upon him ; he careth for you." The hard times 
of the year are not too much for him. The difficult 
ways, the icy winds, the deep snows, the darkness all 
about, the peril by night, the pestilence that wasteth 
at noonday — none of these make him afraid. " In 
summer and in winter shall it be." 



358 DECEMBER TWENTY-THREE 

^ftepfteros in tfte jftelo 

" And there were shepherds in the same country abiding 
in the field, and keeping watch by night over their 
flock." Luke 2:8. 

THERE is a quick sense of surprise in the heart 
when we learn that the glory came to the 
shepherds in the field. It was no house of 
worship at all — they were out under the stars. 
They were in the midst of their toil — and that a 
very common toil. Besides, they were not of the 
privileged class. They tell us that because of their 
isolated lives, away from all opportunity for strict 
legal observances, the shepherds were under the ban 
of Rabbinism. But why should we feel surprised? 
Neither rules nor conventions can be laid down for 
the glory of God. It is often his way to pass over 
the heads of kings and other lofty ones and to deal 
with lowly folk. Moreover he loves to come with 
his glory to men in the midst of their affairs. It is 
not alone in cloisters and sanctuaries that the glory 
shines, but in fields and shops and by the roadside 
and in the market-place. Is it strange that a group 
of shepherds should be the first to be told the good 
news? No, for God was teaching the world a les- 
son; he was telling us all in unmistakable language 
that glory is not on the mountain-tops alone, but in 
the valleys also. Henceforth we may look for glory 
on the shepherd's crook as well as on the king's 
crown. 



DECEMBER TWENTY-FOUR 359 

Cbe CftilD in tfje ganger 

"And she brought forth her first=born son; and she 
wrapped him in swaddling=c!othes, and laid him in 
a manger." Luke 2:7. 

LET us try to realize how our dear Lord's com- 
ing in this disfashioned manner has laid 
God's gracious sanction upon the simplici- 
ties of life. First of all there was the sublime sim- 
plicity of motherhood. It is good to think that 
he came as all of us came. We feel ourselves linked 
to him in a manner of nature which nothing can 
gainsay. We understand too why later he loved to 
call himself " the Son of man." " She wrapped him 
in swaddling-clothes," which no doubt she had provi- 
dently brought with her on the long journey from 
Nazareth. And if you will busy the mind with that 
scene, you shall obtain a mental picture more beau- 
tiful and more true than any of the Madonnas with 
the Child ever painted. For we must see that the 
painters are not true, and cannot be, to the sim- 
plicity of the scene. They must needs put in much 
color, and they must also have their halos, whereas 
there was no richness of color whatsoever, and there 
were no halos at all. Lest any luckless wight among 
all the children of men might feel that it was not for 
him to look in upon such a scene, the scene must 
needs transpire in a stable, where, with the soft- 
breathing cattle following the rhythm of her own 
beating heart, the tender mother laid her child in a 
manger. 



360 DECEMBER TWENTY-FIVE 



A MERRY heart 
And love's fine art, 
True friends around 
To heal life's wound, 
Rich visions clear 
And hope's good cheer, 
With gifts serene 
Unseen and seen — 
All this for thee 
May Christmas be. 



DECEMBER TWENTY-SIX 361 

mbtn Cfttist Mlalfes 

" I will make the place of my feet glorious." 

Isaiah 60:13. 

WHERE Christ walks or stands, glory 
abides. He makes the place of his feet 
glorious in whatsoever place he is. The 
field where the shepherds watched their flocks, the 
manger where the Holy Child was cradled, the 
streets of Nazareth and the house and the carpen- 
ter-shop, and the shores of Gennesaret, every place 
is full of glory. Wherever he goes in the whole 
world, a glory falls upon his pathway. Many a 
shepherd's task in this world, and many a man's 
or woman's task of whatsoever kind, has been glori- 
fied because Christ has walked with the workers. 
Many a house of poor and rich alike has been made 
to shine, for he loves to find an open door where live 
receptive hearts, and rejoices to go in and make his 
glory manifest. We have marked the place of his 
feet in very lowly places on this earth, and have 
seen a simple, trusting heart light up with inward 
radiance when Christ walked before the door. We 
have seen souls that were darkened with sin flame 
forth with the glory of a new life, when Christ 
crossed the threshold. We have seen hearts that 
were bowed and broken with sorrow look up and re- 
j oice, when Christ brought " the hope of glory " to 
the soul. 



362 DECEMBER TWENTY-SEVEN 

jFrom ganger to Cross 

" And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled him= 
self, becoming obedient even unto death." 

Philippians 2:8. 

JESUS CHRIST came down into a manger in 
this world to show us men here that even God 
manifests his glory by stooping to conquer, 
and ere he went back to his glory again, " the glory 
that he had with the Father from the beginning," 
he had gone all the way of suffering, even to the cross 
itself. " What he did, no one can any more undo." 
We talk a great deal about the " inherent dignity 
and trustworthiness of man," and the " potential 
greatness " of man. Jesus believed all this and 
acted upon it. But in order to help men to realize 
their real value in the sight of God, he had to live 
very close to human life, and he had also to reveal 
its weakness, and then he had to take that weakness 
up to his cross and nail it there. In short he had 
to die for man in order that man's " potential great- 
ness " might come to its own. That is what Jesus 
did, and what he is still doing, by his living, reign- 
ing, loving cross. And surely in this Christmas 
week, as we think of his coming into the world by the 
manger and his going out of it by the cross, we must 
feel that our life is worth while to have brought all 
this to pass. 



DECEMBER TWENTY-EIGHT 

Seeking anD Pairing 

" For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that 
which was lost." Luke 19:10. 

THE coming of our dear Lord at Bethlehem 
was not an aimless thing. It was not curi- 
osity that brought him here, as if he would 
see the world at close range. There was none other 
motive than this, " to seek and to save." This 
makes the day of his birth a holy day for the world 
indeed, for he came " with a glory in his bosom that 
transfigures you and me." In this New Testament 
which we ought all of us to read until its Glowing 
Personality truly warms and feeds us, we learn how 
he wrought all his days, and how he counted not his 
life dear to himself, but gave himself freely for men. 
Here also we are taught that his free giving of him- 
self means that we in turn must give ourselves for 
others. They called him Master, but he was the 
truest Servant the world has ever had. We must 
not think to be greater than he was in this respect. 
Although there was no room for him in the inn, we 
must not fail to find room for him in our hearts. 
We must find room for his ideas and plans for life. 
We must let him teach us how to seek and save, how 
to count our life a mission, and how to be servants 
of others, even though we may be masters. 

" O gentlemen, the time of life is short, 
To spend that shortness basely were too long." 



364 DECEMBER TWENTY-NINE 

Cfie ®$mtt of Cftril^atton 

" Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you 
free." John 8:32. 

IS it not Carlyle who tells us that democracy was 
born, not at Bunker Hill, but at Bethlehem? 
When Christ had made it clear by his life and 
death that each soul has an intrinsic value of its 
own, he did thereby establish the principle of in- 
dividual freedom. It is Christ who has given us our 
charter of rights. His Magna Charta was long be- 
fore that, of John at Runnymede. He is the true 
master of civilization, and no king or master can 
rule rightly without him. In Christ every man is 
called to exercise the full rights of the soul in the 
liberty wherewith Christ hath made him free. That 
is the world's true democracy. In this democracy 
of souls of which Christ is the Head, all wrongs, 
whether social, political, commercial or religious, are 
irresistibly judged. All brutalities of progress, all 
oppressions, all personal vauntings that deny or 
shrink the rights of the individual, are brought per- 
force into this High Court of Freedom. Human 
judges and judgments in this world seem to us often 
to go far astray. Many things appear out of joint 
in human conditions. But Christ is ever at work 
in this tangled world, bringing about the higher or- 
der for which he gave his life. The best we can do 
is to know his truth and magnify the freedom for 
which he stands. 



DECEMBER THIRTY 365 

" Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek." 

Matthew 21:5. 
"I am meek and lowly in heart." Matthew 11:29. 

GEOFFREY CHAUCER writes a ballad about 
the man who is worthy to be called " gen- 
tle," or as we would say, a gentleman, and 
in the ballad he tells us that Christ is " the first 
stock-father of gentillnesse." It is a fine word in- 
deed, and one to be treasured in memory. The gen- 
tleness of Jesus is one of the sweetest, yet also one 
of the strongest, lessons of his life. There are those 
who think that if we try to be gentle and tender with 
our fellow-men, we are in danger of becoming weak 
and non-resistant. The best answer to this is found 
in Jesus, who was meek, but never weak. Indeed, 
his gentleness was one source of his power. What 
sensitive soul is there that does not feel the deep 
sway of the gentleness of Jesus ? " Thy gentleness 
hath made me great." What an influence is among 
us in behalf of manly virtue, and domestic gentleness 
and affection, and in behalf of courteous manners 
and high-souled and chivalrous conduct. Christ is 
master not only of our faith, but of our feelings, our 
courtesy, our thoughtfulness — of all those little 
nameless acts of love that constitute a gentle life. 
No wonder Paul writes, " I entreat you by the meek- 
ness and gentleness of Christ." The Master knows 
us, says an early poet, " by our kind heart and cast- 
ing of our eyes." 



366 DECEMBER THIRTY-ONE 

Cfie 2DID anD tfje Jl3eto 

" Brethren, the time is shortened." I Corinthians 7:29. 

HOW long seemed the year when we looked for- 
ward from the opening days. Would the 
months ever roll around? How slowly win- 
ter gave place to spring, and spring to summer, and 
summer to autumn, and autumn to winter again. 
But now, brethren, the time is shortened. The last 
day of the year has come. Soon the midnight bells 
will ring out the old and ring in the new. Old year, 
I part from you with sorrow. You brought me many 
joys, many opportunities, many duties, many friend- 
ships. You gave me new light and hope, and 
crowned my life with love and faith. You brought 
me pain too, and often you led me forth by a diffi- 
cult path. But I blame you not at all, for your 
gift of sorrow did but woo and win my heart to a 
deeper trust. Some days were dark and dreary, but 
the light of One Face was never lost. Often I had 
stumbled and fallen by the way, but an unseen Hand 
upheld me. And now, New Year, I welcome you. 
You come not as a stranger, but as a guest. I bid 
you be at home. I know not how long you will stay 
— I only trust. Because you are a guest, I will 
treat you well. You shall have great hospitality 
and kindness in this home. And if it please thee, 
let thy peace be here. 



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